The Knight Isn't Over
by Native Knight
Summary: **EDIT: This is a veeeery old story. Not one of my better ones, either. I don't suggest reading, for the sake of your eyes, but I'm going to keep it up for nostalgia's sake as my first completed fan fiction.** OC-oriented. After nineteen years apart, Kitt and Michael must find out what the new director of FLAG has up his sleeve before it's too late - with a little help.
1. Prologue

_The Knight Isn't Over_

Yippee! My first Knight Rider fan fic! *dances around for joy* Please read and review and be as harsh as you want. This is my first fan fic, so I want to improve it as much as possible.

Song: I Will Believe (by Nicole Nordeman)

DISCLAIMER

Michael Knight, KITT, Bonnie Barstow, and Devon Miles all belong to Glen Larson. All other characters (including the dog) belong to me :-)

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**The sounds of** hissing tires and the furious whine of a turbine engine filled the huge garage at the Foundation for Law and Government. One side of the room was filled with computer equipment. The other side was stashed with spare car parts and useful equipment.

Three men were busily muttering to one another as they hovered over the computers.

In the middle of it all, a shining black Trans Am was balanced precariously on a car lift. On the customized front nose, a red scanner was swishing rapidly back and forth, showing its fear.

"We've got to do away with it, now," he heard one man mutter. "I can't take much more of that awful noise it's making."

Kitt purposely revved his engine angrily again.

Kitt's tires squealed desperately on the air, but he was held in the air by the car lift. He couldn't move. He couldn't get away! Where was Michael?

"Kitt!"

Kitt froze at the familiar voice. "Michael!" he called, puzzled. "Where are you?"

He scanned the area over and over again, but he couldn't find his friend and partner. Where was he?

"Right outside," Michael's voice replied, as if coming from far away. "All right, relax. Just let these guys do what they need to do. Don't worry, partner, it'll be fine."

Kitt automatically relaxed at Michael's words of reassurance. He shivered at the tingling sensation of another computer accessing his CPU.

"Don't worry, not too much longer," Michael kept on comforting him. "You hang in there."

"But Michael…"

"It'll be okay, Kitt," Michael interrupted gently. "Trust me."

"I trust you, Michael," Kitt said shakily.

In the next few seconds, Kitt felt himself being overridden by that other computer. He felt like he was falling. He tried to call out for Michael again. But he felt so weak. "Michael, help me…"

"Hang in there, buddy," Michael's voice said in the distance, murmuring his reassurance. For a brief moment Kitt thought it sounded oddly far away and static.

But suddenly all his thoughts were choked away from him. He tried to cry out one last time in protest of what they were doing to him, but he was too late.

One by one, Kitt's systems went offline as the other computer overrode him and shut him down.

"No…" he managed to choke. _Michael, why are you doing this to me?_

Then everything went dark, and he felt himself sliding away into a dark world of oblivion.

"**What? What do** you mean, he's been destroyed?" Michael demanded hotly, feeling his heart sink. His breath came faster, and a sweat broke out over his forehead.

Ethan Lowry, the brand new director of FLAG, shrugged helplessly. "It just happened this morning. A colleague of mine was driving the car, and they drove into a trap. Five missiles at once apparently were too much for the Knight Two Thousand to cope with. The CPU has been completely burnt out, and the car body is quite a mess. It's beyond hope of a repair, Mr. Knight. I'm sorry."

A terrible chill ran down Michael's spine, and down his arms. No. No…it couldn't be possible. It was too…too impossible…no!

"Kitt's gone?" he repeated slowly.

"I'm afraid so," the new FLAG director said in a voice full of regret. "If there was anything I could do to repair it, it would have already have been done, I assure you. Please accept my apologies."

"N-no…it's all right, Mr. Lowry," Michael said, trying to keep the quiver of grief out of his voice. "I understand. Goodbye." Slowly, he hung up the phone and looked around him at the tiny hotel room in disbelief.

Kitt was dead? He trembled and tried to keep the tears from forming in his eyes.

He and Kitt had been best friends for over ten years now. Together they had coped with so much, from Michael's adjustment from Michael Long to Michael Knight all the way up to Devon's recent death. How could that all be wiped away in just a moment?

The world swayed for a moment. Michael had to grab onto the nearby couch to keep his balance.

Slowly he sank onto it. He stared ahead of him, not seeing the entertainment center and television in front of him. He saw only the missiles…heard only Kitt's screams as they hit him…

Michael covered his face with his hands in grief. First Devon, and now Kitt. What would be next?

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Well, there you have it! Hope you enjoyed. More action in the next chapter! Stay tuned! :)


	2. The Foundation

Michael Knight and Kitt do NOT belong to me! However, McKenna Knight, Ethan Lowry, and the dog do : )

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_Chapter One: The Foundation_

**McKenna Knight whistled** sharply. "Leya!" she shouted to the flash of white darting in between the bushes ahead of them, tugging at the leash she held in her hand. "Leya, leave it."

The spotted puppy loped back to her, long pink tongue lolling happily. McKenna gathered the leash in her hands and ruffled the mutt's soft, auburn fur on her neck. "Good girl, Leya. Stay."

Leya whined happily and wagged her tail. She sat down at her owner's heels and looked adoringly up at her.

McKenna and her father Michael were walking the puppy in one of the beautiful, well-kept gardens at the Foundation for Law and Government. She glanced up the little path they were walking on just beside the big old mansion. She smiled, thinking that it reminded her of a knight's castle, which seemed appropriate since a man named Wilton Knight had once owned it.

Flowers of all shapes and colors lined the gravel pathway, and it was obvious that they were tended to daily by the gardeners hired by FLAG.

Michael had brought McKenna and her dog to go see a friend at his old workplace, the Foundation for Law and Government. According to Michael, he hadn't been there in ten years, not since his partner whom he had worked with had passed away. He didn't talk about his old partner much, but when he did, it was with such fondness and wistfulness that even she could see why he had left after his death. It sounded like they'd been very close.

McKenna normally wouldn't have brought Leya along with them, but Michael had had to pick her up at the dog-training center, where McKenna spent most of her time, so Leya had gotten to come along. The puppy needed a lot of exercise, so they'd gone out into the garden to walk her for a little bit before they left her in the car.

McKenna was sixteen, five foot nine, with her mother's straight brunette hair and her father's soft blue eyes. She loved dogs and all animals, and was a big advocate against cruelty to animals. Like her dad, she was stubborn and determined, and she was never afraid to stand up for what she thought was right. Michael had often joked what a great crime-fighter she'd make.

McKenna already knew what she was going to do when she was older – she was going to run an animal rescue sanctuary. She wanted to help dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, any animal in need to find a home. That was what she wanted to do.

She was already starting. Leya had been rescued from neglect, and she owned a horse named Legacy that had been neglected once, too. In the five years she'd owned him, she'd worked with the skittish sorrel gelding to make him into a fine trail horse for her. She loved both her animals with all her heart, and wanted to devote her life to helping other animals in need like them.

But sometimes, she secretly envied her father's adventurous career as a soldier, police officer, and finally a lone crime fighter. She like to imagine him as the Lone Ranger, riding his trusty white stallion to the rescue, although in reality she knew FLAG had supplied him with a high-tech car to work with. So, it was a trusty white car. McKenna herself had just gotten her drivers license and she loved to drive her Chevy out on her own – just her and Leya. Of course, it wasn't nearly as wonderful and freeing as galloping Legacy down a trail, wild as the birds that flew above them and the deer that sometimes leaped across their path.

She loved her father. He was funny, smart, kind, loving…everything a dad should be. Not that she didn't love her mom, of course, but she and Michael had always been close.

Her father eyed the puppy. "That pup had better listen a little better," he warned his 16-year-old daughter. "It's not exactly the most puppy-friendly place around here, you know."

"Yeah." McKenna winced. "I know."

Before she could finish, Leya caught a whiff of something and was off to track it.

"Leya!" McKenna shouted sharply. "Stay!" She glanced apologetically at her father. "Sorry, dad. I think I might want to stay out here with Leya and make sure that she doesn't dig up the Foundation's tulips – or at least, no more than she has already."

Michael grimaced. "Yeah. Maybe that's not a bad idea."

She tugged Leya back from the peonies she was threatening with playful growls and tentative paws. "I'll take Leya out around for a walk while you go on in and do what you need to. Okay, dad?"

He nodded slowly. "All right. There's a field on the other side of that warehouse you should be able to walk her in. But be careful. It's supposed to rain today, and the clouds are already moving in."

McKenna looked up at the gray sky. She nodded as she took in the darkening clouds. "I'll be quick, dad, don't worry. And we'll find shelter if it starts to rain too hard."

"Right." Michael patted her shoulder. "I'll be back. Stay dry, huh? I don't want any wet dog smell in my car, thank you very much." He made a face.

"I'll remember that," McKenna laughed as she gathered the leash. "See you. Leya, come. Come on, girl!"

The puppy's tongue lolled with delight as they jogged down the field, Leya stopping every once in a while to sniff a clump of grass or a tree, or trying to chase a squirrel up a fence.

McKenna walked Leya for about ten minutes. She was so lost in her own thoughts that at first she didn't even notice the thickening moisture in the air.

Then a raindrop hit her arm.

Blinking, McKenna felt it, and then looked up at the sky. She groaned. The clouds had darkened and rain was beginning to drip down from the heavens. Her dog whimpered and turned to her.

"Come, Leya," McKenna murmured. "We have to get to shelter. Dad won't like it if you get wet." She headed for their Jeep.

But the raindrops intensified faster than she'd expected. There wouldn't be time to walk back to the car before both got a soaking.

Shivering from the chilly rain, McKenna threw her hoodie over her head and looked around. There! The warehouse Michael had pointed out would be a great place to keep dry until the rain let up a bit. She led Leya over to the overhang and tried to hide underneath it.

Unfortunately, it was no good. In fact, the drops of rain just got bigger as they dripped from the roof of the warehouse, seeping into McKenna's clothes and making her shiver harder.

Leya whined pitifully. McKenna reached down to pat her dog reassuringly before glancing up.

There was a door beside her. She paused. It was probably locked, but worth a shot, anyway…

Hesitantly McKenna stepped over to the gray door and turned the handle. Miraculously, it wasn't locked, and Leya quickly darted inside. McKenna followed her dog's heels.

Inside the warehouse, it was cold, but dry. Rain pinged on the metal roof, making a rat-a-tat-tat sound.

Leya shook the water from her fur as McKenna squinted to see if there was a light switch anywhere. "Leya?" she called out, her voice echoing in the big, dark storeroom. "Come on. Stay close, girl." She began to walk foreword, feeling her way across the room. She heard Leya's claws tapping softly on the concrete flooring. The puppy was usually very well behaved for a dog her age, but usually it took two 'comes' or more to get her to obey the command. She must be as intimidated as her owner was by the unfamiliar, dark warehouse.

Luckily, McKenna's eyes were beginning to get used to the darkness. If she looked hard, she thought she could see a box on one side of the wall. Maybe it was an electric control box where she could turn on the lights.

She felt her way over there, and managed to flip the control box open. Sure enough, there were a lot of switches underneath the lid. Surely one had to be for the lights!

Praying that she was pushing the right one, she slid one switch to the side.

She waited for the buzz of lights switching on, but all she heard was a popping noise and a sizzle of electric wires.

"Oops, wrong one," she muttered anxiously as she quickly pressed the switch back off. The electric sputtering stopped almost at once.

"Phew," she sighed in relief, glancing down at Leya. The dog was looking up at her with her big, brown, liquid eyes. They looked at McKenna with a plea to make things better.

The next switch McKenna tried she guessed was the air conditioner, by the familiar humming sound. Finally, after switching the air conditioner off, she pressed a big switch.

To her relief, a buzz filled the room and one by one, the lights flickered to life.

McKenna breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay," she said aloud to her dog. "Now we just wait until the rain passes or dad comes looking for us."

Leya licked her hand in agreement.

Smiling affectionately, McKenna ruffled Leya's fur. Then she glanced around at the huge room.

The warehouse was filled with boxes of all sorts and sizes. Most were big, but there were some small ones. Everything looked pretty normal, except…

She frowned at the object at one side of the big room. It looked like a car covered in a white tarp. It had the sleek shape of a sports car. McKenna felt a curiosity tugging her towards it.

As she slowly made her way over to the car, she remembered her father telling her about the highly advanced car that the Foundation had given him to drive while he worked for them. Could this be it?

Her curiosity now piqued, McKenna led Leya to the tarp. It was fastened down firmly to the car, but a few strings had been ripped in one end of it, and she could see black metal underneath the tarp.

Okay, so it wasn't the silvery white car that she had always imagined Michael driving, but she had to admit that a black car did suit him better.

She wished she could see a little more of it. She cautiously lifted the tarp a bit more. She could just barely see a dusty black front bumper now.

McKenna looked down at Leya, who was now curiously sniffing at the car's tire. "Should I do it?" she asked softly.

At the sound of her owner's voice, Leya lifted her head, wagged her tail, and whined happily.

McKenna nodded determinedly. "I'll take that as a yes," she declared.

Cautiously, she unhooked the tarp from the tires of the car. She knew that this wasn't her property. She shouldn't really be doing this. But if this car had indeed been her father's, well, then…she had some right to, didn't she?

Finally, she pulled off the tarp to reveal a dusty, old, black Trans-Am. She blinked. Wow. This thing was old, and in pretty good shape, other than being rather dirty.

Automatically McKenna leaned down to brush off the dust. She paused when her hand rubbed the hood. She rubbed it again. It wasn't her imagination after all. The hood was silky soft. It felt like wood that had been polished and buffed until it shone and went soft. But she sensed that it was very tough and hard – armored, maybe.

She glanced briefly at the customized nose, and then she walked around to the driver's side window to take a peek inside. Leya followed her faithfully.

What McKenna saw made her eyes pop. "Whoa. This is too cool," she muttered.

The dashboard was sprinkled with buttons and controls of all kinds that covered the entire dash. There were even buttons on the roof and between the two bucket seats.

"Check this out, girl," she called softly. "This has got to be the most advanced car in the word."

The puppy sniffed at the car, then whimpered excitedly. She pawed at the door, hoping to go for a ride.

Slowly McKenna opened the passenger door to get a better look at the dashboard, although she had to elbow Leya away from climbing into the car right away.

"Pursuit, auto, normal," she read softly. "Turbo boost, eject, auto roof…wonder what all these do!"

McKenna unconsciously leaned her elbow on it, just like she did with her car at home. When she heard a beep and a whirring sound, she gasped and jerked her arm away. Her face paled. _Oh no…_

Leya whimpered and backed away.

Quickly McKenna shot out of the car and shut the door. _What've I done now?_

There were several beeping, whirring noises to be heard inside the car. Leya dropped to her belly at McKenna's feet.

There was a flash of red light from the front of the car. McKenna flinched and turned towards it.

A red scanning light was tracking back and forth on the customized black nose.

Leya yapped noisily, defending her mistress.

"Leya, hush!" McKenna commanded, crouching next to her puppy and hugging her. The dog licked her face nervously. "Okay, girl. It's just a machine."

For a moment, everything was silent in the big warehouse except for a whooshing noise.

McKenna swallowed hard. "Leya, I think we've activated something we weren't supposed to touch in the first place," she whispered. "I've got to figure out a way to turn it back off."

Cautiously, she opened the door again. But this time, she wasn't paying attention to her dog, and the brown and white puppy leapt up on to the driver's seat.

"If you could remove that little furball off of my upholstery, I would appreciate it, young lady."

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Next chapter will be up shortly!


	3. Rift in a Friendship

DISCLAIMER: Michael Knight and Kitt do not belong to me. McKenna Knight, Corby and Mack, and the dog do belong to me.

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**McKenna's face paled** and she backed away from the black Trans Am. Had…had the car just spoken to her? "Leya, down!" she commanded in a rather shaky voice.

Leya barked loudly at the voice, but with one last quiet 'woof', she obeyed McKenna and hopped down out of the car.

"Who's there?" McKenna demanded, trying not to show her fear.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the male voice said. It had a slight Bostonian accent, and sounded electronic, or computerized. "I am the Knight Two Thousand. You can call me Kitt if you like."

"Um…" McKenna began suspiciously. "Okay…Kitt. Who are you?"

"I am the car," the voice said, sounding as if it were smiling. "Or rather, I'm the computer inside the car."

"Oh…you're an AI?" McKenna's mother loved working with computers, and especially AIs, so McKenna knew all about the advanced computer systems.

"Yes," Kitt said, a little bit too quietly. The melancholy in his voice vanished as soon as it had appeared. "Do you mind me asking who you might be?"

She hesitated a beat, and then said, "I'm McKenna. McKenna Knight. And this is my dog, Leya."

There was another uncomfortable pause. Then, Kitt asked rather slowly, "What year is it?"

McKenna shrugged. "It's 2010."

"Oh." There was a mixture of relief and sadness in the electronic voice.

"What?" she asked cautiously. "It can't be _that_ long ago when were you deactivated."

Kitt paused a beat before answering, again in that quiet tone. "1991," he said softly.

"Ah." McKenna paused. "It has been a while."

Leya barked again and put her front paws up on the seat again.

"Down!" McKenna ordered her sharply. Leya took her paws off. "That's a girl. Good girl. Sorry about my dog," she said, turning back to Kitt. "She can be a handful, can't you, Leya? Yes, good girl!"

There was a brief pause.

"You aren't related to Michael Knight, by any chance, are you?" Kitt asked quietly.

McKenna wanted to squeal with satisfaction. "It is the same car Dad drove!" she exclaimed. "Yeah! Oh, wait 'till I tell him…uh, yeah, Michael Knight is my father."

Kitt was quiet for a long moment, staring up at the daughter of his former best friend. Everything suddenly came rushing back to him…Michael's reassuring voice telling him that it would be okay, trusting his friend and partner completely – and then total darkness. Then he woke up to find that it was nearly twenty years later and Michael's daughter, whom he had never met before and looked to be about sixteen years old, had _accidentally_ reactivated him. Had he never meant to be been reactivated again?

The realization hit him like a bombshell. _But…I never even… _he thought in shock. Michael wouldn't want him to die like this, alone and abandoned in a stuffy old warehouse? Would he? Would he…? Kitt winced as terrible old memories filled his CPU.

"_It'll be okay, Kitt. Trust me."_

"_I trust you, Michael…Michael, help me…"_

"_Hang in there, buddy."_

"_No…Michael, why are you doing this to me?"_

Michael had let him down. Michael told him it would be all right and Kitt had trusted him – but he shouldn't have.

_Michael would never deliberately do this to me,_ he thought desperately. _Michael loves me, as I love him._ _He…he couldn't actually_ want _me deactivated. Could he?_

"Dad's told me all about you," McKenna was saying excitedly, totally unaware of the confusion and hurt that Kitt was living through inside his CPU in the car. "But he never told me that you were like this! I mean, you can talk! How could he ever have left out that important part?" She shook her head in disgust.

Then her eyes widened. "But he did mention a special partner they put him with. I wonder…"

"Yes," Kitt said softly. "To my knowledge I was Michael's only partner while he worked with the Foundation."

"But he said…" McKenna said softly, her voice stumbling in confusion. "He said his partner…was dead."

The anger in Kitt's voice when he next spoke startled McKenna. "Yes, Michael knows all about how I was deactivated," Kitt said bitterly. "In fact, he helped to deactivate me."

"What? He…he always told me that his partner died in an explosion. Something about missiles…"

"Well, he was here when I was deactivated. He told me I would be okay," Kitt said sourly. "Look at what I got for trusting him."

McKenna shook her head. "From the way Dad talks about you, I don't believe he would ever want you to be deactivated," she said firmly. "He talks as if you were the greatest partner a man ever had. In fact, I think he used that expression once."

"About me, huh?" Kitt muttered softly.

"Yes, about you!" McKenna snapped. "Don't go around saying bad things about my father. Got it?"

There was another pause. McKenna's sudden flash of stubbornness and loyalty reminded Kitt of how loyal Michael had once been to Kitt. They had trusted one another completely.

_But why did he betray me when I needed him most?_

McKenna sighed. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I hate it when I yell like that. I can get a bit protective of what I care about sometimes."

"I understand," he sighed. "I'm programmed for the preservation of human life, so I can get rather protective of…I mean, I can get rather protective of people that I care about as well. Don't worry about it."

She smiled. "Thanks," she said, sliding onto the drivers' seat.

Kitt paused a beat before explaining, "Your father and I were great friends as well as partners at one point. We worked together for ten years. I thought we would be close forever. But when I was deactivated…they took me away with a tow truck and forced me onto a car lift. Michael called out for me, but I couldn't scan him. They must have disabled my scanners. He told me that not to worry…and then deactivated me."

"Dad deactivated you himself?"

"No," Kitt admitted. "But he was there, and he helped them. I trusted him to help me, but then he deceived me." He paused, then asked, "Is your father well, McKenna?"

She hid a hint of a grin. "Yeah, he's fine. He's here to see an old friend of his, and I was walking my dog, Leya, in the field behind this warehouse. It started to rain, and so we came in here for shelter. That's when we came across you. I think dad's up in the mansion now."

McKenna paused, thinking hard. Michael had told her about his old partner's death, and it was a very different story from the one Kitt had just told. Michael had told her he'd had to go on an urgent trip, leaving without notice. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to his partner before he left. Later he had gotten a phone call from his boss saying that his partner had died with another man in an explosion. She sighed as she remembered the sorrow and grief in his voice whenever he talked about it.

"McKenna?" Kitt broke into her thoughts.

"Yes, Kitt?"

"What sort of things does your father say about me?"

"Only good things, I promise! He doesn't talk about his life here very much, but I get the feeling that he misses you a lot."

"Really?" Silence. Kitt missed Michael so much that it hurt, but he wasn't about to admit that, even to himself.

Suddenly a door shut. "McKenna? You in here? Leya?"

Leya had been lying down on the floor with her chin between her front paws. But at the sound of Michael's voice, she leapt to her paws and barked happily. She whined and wiggled with delight.

Kitt tensed. _Michael._ He'd know that voice from anywhere. Part of him wanted to rush up and greet Michael and never leave him again. But a bigger part of him was angry and hurt…

"Dad!" McKenna scrambled up to her feet. "Uh, I'm over here. By the black Trans Am."

The steady footsteps faltered.

Back near the doorway, Michael stopped short. He had been about to walk in and see if McKenna had found shelter in the warehouse. She had found a Trans Am in the warehouse?

Michael shook his head harshly. No. Kitt wasn't here. Kitt was gone. He sighed and walked to where her voice was coming from.

"Over here?" he called.

"Yeah," he heard her reply.

Michael rounded a tall stack of boxes to see his daughter standing next to a Trans Am. A black 1982 Trans Am with a red light sweeping gracefully at the prow of the car.

Meanwhile, Kitt felt a jab of relief seeing his friend alive and well. Kitt tensed. _Michael._ He'd know that voice from anywhere. Kitt winced at the hostility he felt in his own thoughts towards Michael. Why…?

"I don't believe this," Michael whispered, his face ashen. "Kitt?"

"Hello, Michael," Kitt replied, forcing coolness.

Michael's jaw dropped for a moment. Then he jogged over to them and, gently shouldering his way past McKenna, he got into the drivers' seat. "It really is you, isn't it?" he breathed, taking in the dashboard and the steering wheel.

"Yes, Michael," Kitt said calmly. "It's me."

Michael laughed in pure relief. "You okay, buddy?"

"Other than sitting in the dust for nearly twenty years, I believe I'm quite all right," Kitt said stiffly.

Finally Michael noticed Kitt's distant, cold tone. He blinked. "No, you're not," he murmured, taken aback. "I come back after I don't know how long, thinking all this time that I'd never see you again, and how do you greet me? Like I'm an old enemy instead of an old friend! What is it?"

"Michael, I prefer not to talk about it," Kitt said coolly.

Now Michael couldn't keep the hurt from passing over his face. "What's the matter?" he said, very softly. "You can tell me, Kitt."

"You know what!" Kitt snapped. "Now please, leave me alone." The scanner darkened.

Michael felt his gut clench. "Kitt?" he said very softly. "Talk to me. Come on, I'll understand."

Kitt was silent.

"Come on, Kitt," Michael begged.

Still, silence.

Michael sighed. After a moment, he briefly rubbed the dashboard sensor.

Kitt felt a little pang inside him at the familiar touch. He desperately wanted to ask him what had happened. But then there were the memories…the pain, the fear…

Kitt was quiet.

McKenna had been watching all this uneasily. A shuddering sigh escaped Michael and he got out of the car, slammed the door, and then turned to his daughter. He glared at her, and she flinched at his cold eyes. "I've been looking for you everywhere," he growled.

She flinched. "Sorry, dad," she mumbled. "But it started to rain, and…we had to find somewhere to hide out until it stopped. We came in here, and…we found Kitt."

Her father's expression was dark, but a cloud of pain flashed in his eyes for a brief moment. "Come on," he sighed, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Let's go."

He only glanced back at Kitt once.

**Just outside the **warehouse – or rather, above it, in a rain-soaked tree – a short, man with sand-colored hair plastered to his head blinked rain away from his eyes as he fastened a clip onto a hook. "You know something, Mack?" he grumbled. "We could have waited for better weather to get rid of the stupid machine."

The taller man shrugged. "Boss wants it done. I wasn't in any position to argue with him. He was furious enough that it wasn't done already. Just get it done, Corby."

Corby grimaced and peered down at the large warehouse below the tree they were straddled in. "Whatever the boss has against that thing, he's sure willing to take a risk to make sure it's destroyed for good this time."

Mack rolled his eyes. "This time?" he snorted. "Last time, we never even came close to destroying it. All we had to do was deactivate it. Now he goes around yelling at me for not destroying it in the first place." He helped Corby load a missile into the projector.

"Well, this time, the job will be done," Corby said determinedly. "The Knight 2000 is going down for good."

The missiles were loaded, and now all they had to do was point them in the correct direction and pull the trigger.

**Back inside, McKenna** scuffed her shoe on the hard concrete flooring uncomfortably. "Sorry, dad," she apologized quietly again as she and Michael slowly walked towards the door. Leya trailed quietly at McKenna's heels.

Michael shook his head slowly. "Don't worry," he murmured. "It wasn't your fault. But I'm going to see Ethan Lowry and I'm going to find out why Kitt is in the warehouse after Lowry told me that he had been destroyed."

"What happened, dad?"

"I had to go to an urgent business meeting, and they asked me not to take Kitt along. Next thing I know, Lowry calls me to tell me that Kitt died in a missile attack." He winced at the memory. "I never thought I would see him again. I just wish I knew why he's acting this way."

McKenna bit her lip. Should she tell him what she knew? Or did Kitt mean for it to be kept a secret from him?

_I've got to tell him._

"Dad," she began, but another voice interrupted her.

"Michael! McKenna! Be careful!" Kitt cried out from somewhere behind them. They whirled around to see Kitt zooming up behind him, his red scanner zipping back and forth frantically. He opened both doors. "Get in, quickly. I've just detected a missile targeted for this warehouse."

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Dun-dun-dun-dun! To Be Continued!


	4. The Mission Begins

Okay, before I start, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who read and reviewed my story! Your suggestions have helped. *hugs* Sorry the chapters are so short.

As always, Michael Knight, KITT, Wilton Knight, Bonnie Barstow and Devon Miles (and the mystery woman towards the end of the chapter) don't belong to me. All other characters (including the dog) do.

* * *

**McKenna's face went** white as a sheet and she felt the blood run cold in her veins. "M-missile?"

But Michael seemed calm. "Get in," he ordered his daughter, rushing to Kitt. "McKenna! Get in the car right now!"

Feeling as though she were about to be sick, she quickly pulled Leya towards the car, got in, and put Leya in the backseat. She shut the door.

Michael grimly shifted into drive. "You hang on tight," he muttered to McKenna and Leya.

"Dad?" McKenna gasped as he spun Kitt around and headed straight for a wall. "Dad, are you crazy? We're going to –!"

It was too late and they burst through the wall of the warehouse. McKenna screamed and threw her arms up to cover her face as pieces of siding and timber fell all around them. For a moment the car was lost in a cloud of white dust.

Then the sound of rain pelting the roof and the turbine engine roaring jerked McKenna back into awareness, and she realized that they had somehow made it out alive. She gasped and whirled around. The wall was now a crumbled mess behind them.

Leya barked in alarm.

"How did we do that?" McKenna gasped.

"Later," Michael muttered, pressing Kitt faster. The car obediently responded with a smooth leap that made the speedometer jump to one hundred miles per hour. "Right now, we've got to get away from the storage building before it explodes."

McKenna felt herself trembling.

In a moment a white-hot flash and a noise that went beyond deafening overwhelmed McKenna's senses. She tried to scream, but her voice was lost in the roar of the explosion. She was aware of the car shaking and the boom echoing around her, and then everything was silent.

Leya's frantic barking broke the darkness that had momentarily overcome McKenna. Too shocked to hush her dog, McKenna dared to look behind them. She felt her stomach lurch again as she stared at the destroyed, flaming wreck where the warehouse had once stood.

Michael had brought the car to a screeching halt after the explosion. He turned to McKenna and grabbed her shoulder. "You all right?" he demanded.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" she insisted, unable to keep a little tremble out of her voice. "Just…kind of surprised."

Michael turned to Kitt. "Kitt, you okay?"

"Yes, Michael. And you?"

"Yeah, partner, I'm all right," Michael muttered. "Scan the area. See who fired that missile."

A reading showed up on the monitor on Kitt's dashboard. "There is a car just leaving in scanner range, Michael," he reported instantly. "I'm running the plates right now."

"Good work, Kitt," Michael muttered. "Tell me when you get anything." He shifted into 'drive' and began pulling them away. Everything was quiet for a moment. Then Michael spoke again. "Kitt," he said quietly. "Check your audio banks to see if you picked up anything."

"Right away, Michael."

There was a squealing sound as Kitt rewound the recording, and McKenna grinned. "Seriously," she laughed. "Where did this car come from, a science fiction movie?"

Michael grinned at her. "Yeah. And Wilton Knight was the director of it."

"He means the director of FLAG, I assume, as I am certainly not from any science fiction film," Kitt put in dryly, but his voice held a smile. "But I do have something in my audio banks. And I have the information on the license plates, as well as the men who own the car. Their names are Mack Payne and Corby Grant, two arms dealers who run a weaponry store approximately fifty miles North from here." The faces of the two men showed up on the monitor.

Michael glanced at the plump-faced, blond man and the skinnier, dark-haired man and nodded. "Great job, partner. Go ahead and play the tape for me."

A rough male voice played over the speakers. "Whatever the boss has against that thing, he's sure willing to take a risk to make sure it's destroyed for good this time."

"This time?" another male voice answered the first one spitefully. "Last time, we never even came close to destroying it. All we had to do was deactivate it. Then he goes around yelling at me for not destroying it in the first place."

"Well, this time, the job will be done," the first voice said determinedly. "The Knight 2000 is going down for good."

Michael's face paled as he quickly switched off the recorder. "Okay, that does it," he grumbled. "If someone's after you, Kitt, you're staying with me. I am _not_ about to lose you again."

For some reason, McKenna was a little touched at the concern and care she heard in Michael's tone. But Kitt didn't seem to hear it.

"Michael, that would me taking me off of Foundation property purposely," Kitt protested. "It's called stealing. You should leave me behind."

"Hey, you think we're gonna walk away now?" McKenna scoffed. "I don't know about you two, but I'm pretty interested at what those guys were trying to do to us!"

"McKenna," Michael said in a low voice. Then he turned back to Kitt. "All right, Kitt. Your choice. I'll leave you here if you want me to. I can walk away right now, right here…"

Kitt hesitated. "Again?" he said in a quiet voice. There was a pause. "I'm sorry, Michael. I…it's just been so long…" Another pause. "You may take me home. I won't say anything more against it."

Michael shifted into drive. "Thanks, partner," he murmured.

The drive home was quiet. McKenna glanced back only once. "We left the car," she said softly.

"That's okay," Michael said so quietly that she could just barely hear him. "We'll come back for it later." He didn't say anything else.

After a while of driving down a pretty road just outside a little downtown area, Michael turned up a private drive that led to their house, a medium sized one-story cottage. It was the last house on the block before they hit a dead end.

The modest-looking brick house stood about forty feet from the road and ten yards from the road. The front yard was slightly overgrown, but overall in good shape. The flowerbed beside the front door was well tended to, and everything was tidy. The neatness showed mostly McKenna's mother Bonnie's efforts and work.

Michael pulled Kitt into the attached two-car garage and turned to his daughter after setting Kitt in park. "McKenna, why don't you take Leya inside and feed her?" he asked quietly.

McKenna sat straighter, slighted, and was about to protest when she realized that Michael probably needed a little time alone with his old partner to heal the schism that seemed to have come between them. She reluctantly called to Leya, and led the dog out of the car and into the house.

Neither Michael nor Kitt spoke a word at first. Finally, Kitt's hesitant voice broke the silence.

"Why did you leave me alone, Michael?"

Michael bit his lip. "Kitt, the night before…your deactivation, Ethan Lowry sent me to a meeting in New York. He said that he couldn't make it because of personal issues, and he wanted me to take his place. I'd done that for Devon in the past, so I agreed, but I had to leave town immediately, without saying goodbye to you. Lowry called me the day after the meeting when I was getting ready to return home to tell me that you were destroyed in an explosion while on a run with another FLAG employee. You've got to believe me when I say I was heartbroken, because I was, Kitt. I would never, ever, do anything like that to you. You've always known that. We're friends and partners and we look out for one another. But sometimes…" He broke off and sighed instead.

"But I heard your voice," Kitt whispered. "If it had been a trick, I would have scanned it. But you were there, you were telling me it would be all right in the end, and then I was betrayed."

Michael felt a stab like a knife in his side. "No, Kitt! I swear, swear to God that I had no idea what was going on. You've got to know that if I could've done anything to save you I would've in a heartbeat. I just don't want anything else to happen to you." A flash of uneasiness came over him, and Michael hated not being able to fully express how he felt.

When Kitt next spoke, there was evident pain in his voice. "I want to believe what you're telling me," he murmured haltingly. "But I know what I heard. I'm not sure what I think now."

"Please, Kitt," Michael pleaded. "Just trust me for a little while until I figure out what's going on."

For a few seconds, there was silence.

"I know what you're feeling here," Michael continued softly. "Believe me, I know all too well. But you know you can trust me."

There was another brief pause that lasted only for a few heartbeats. Then Kitt replied, "Yes. I do."

Michael swallowed a sigh of relief. "So trust me now, partner. I'm going to find out what happened; you can count on it. But I need your cooperation, and in order for that, I need your trust."

"I want to believe you, Michael. I can't tell you how much I do. But I can't simply forget how hurt I was when I heard your voice betraying me. Wouldn't I have scanned, or at least detected any recording or trickery they tried to play on me?" His voice now held just a note of desperation. Michael realized that Kitt was once again looking to him for reassurance like before, whether or not he realized it himself.

"I don't know," he replied thoughtfully. "Even if it had been made of lead, you probably could have detected it."

"But that's what I mean. I want to believe you, but I just don't know how else it could be. It's all so confusing."

Automatically, Michael put a comforting hand on the dash. "Hey, don't you worry. Whoever did this to us are gonna get a piece of it." He nodded solemnly.

"I believe you on _that_, Michael," Kitt said dryly. "And…and I trust you. I know that if you say you didn't do it, you mean it. I'm sorry, Michael."

Michael grinned. "Thanks, pal," he said as he gave the dashboard a rub. "Don't worry, I'll find out who did this to us. You can count on it."

"So long as it doesn't involve any more thievery or more explosions," Kitt grumbled.

Michael couldn't help a burst of laugher. "Since when were you against explosions?"

"If I know Bonnie, she won't be happy that we've already crashed through one wall, had to escape from one bomb, had to save her daughter from certain death, and started a new investigation, all within an hour of my being reactivated. I have to admit, I'm not exactly looking foreword to facing her, Michael."

Michael paused and glanced back at Kitt. "By the way, have I told you yet how nice it is to have your optimistic personality back?" he teased.

"Not yet, Michael," Kitt replied. "But I knew you would, given enough time."

As Michael chuckled and turned around, he heard the garage door slam shut. He glanced up to see Bonnie, eyes wide. "Kitt!" she cried.

Michael leaned over towards Kitt. "On second thought, maybe I'll join you in running from the fireworks," he muttered under his breath.

She sighed in relief and jogged over to him. "Is that really you?" she laughed. "Oh God, Kitt! We never thought we would see you again. Are you all right? Everything in place?"

"Bonnie, he's fine," Michael laughed. "He's just fine, I promise. Just a little dusty and shaken, that's all."

"Michael, I have not been 'shaken' by anything, actually," Kitt insisted. "If you mean that explosion, well, we've gone through worse."

Michael grimaced. "Yeah, don't remind me."

"Explosion? Why am I not surprised?" Bonnie groaned in mock defeat and covered her hands with her face. "What am I going to _do_ with the two of you! You manage to find trouble everywhere you go!" She glared at Michael, a glint of exasperated affection in her eyes.

He shrugged innocently. "At least we didn't do anything to start it this time," he objected weakly.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and jogged back over to the house. "Kitt, don't go anywhere. I'll be right back as soon as I get some equipment."

"Yes, Bonnie," Kitt replied willingly.

Michael followed Bonnie back into the house, casting one more glance at Kitt. He trailed her into her workroom, where she began gathering some of her tools and testing devices.

She glanced up at him as he followed her into the room. "While we have a minute, maybe you can explain what exactly happened?"

"Yeah, uh…" He grimaced and let out a sigh. "I was up at the Foundation to meet Peter…"

"Yes?"

"And McKenna took Leya into one of the old warehouses near that field across from the mansion. Kitt was in there, deactivated and gathering dust. Be thankful our daughter is inquisitive, or else he might not be here at all."

She rolled her eyes without looking up from her work. "I know where she got that from. Continue."

"Kitt warned us that there was a missile targeted for the warehouse. We decided to help 'em out and took down one wall to get out of there, and we were pretty far away when the warehouse blew. I promise, the only thing that was damaged were my eardrums from Leya barking so loud."

"I'm checking him nonetheless." Bonnie turned and shot him a curious look as they headed out the door again. "Then, this means that Kitt isn't really supposed to be here, right?"

Michael nodded slowly as he walked beside her back out to the garage. "It was a close call out there today, Bonnie. I won't risk losing him again in case FLAG actually _wants_ him destroyed. He's staying here for a while, and the fact that he's safe is going to remain a secret for that time."

Bonnie shared a soft smile with him as they paused outside the door to the garage. "I know you mean it when you say it like that," she chuckled as she gave him a little kiss. Then Michael went back inside as Bonnie left to check on her Kitt.

**Meanwhile, in a **dark and rather grungy office room, three men were having a conversation. Two of the men were standing in front of a desk, and the third man was leaning in a chair. His stylish dark hair and neatly pressed gray blazer seemed out of place in the small, poorly maintained room. The only decorations in the tiny office room were a few photographs hanging on the walls. Two were of the beach or a sunset, but the third one was a photo of a woman. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, and her curly, long dark hair hung loosely around her shoulders. This particular photo was highlighted by the only source of natural light in the room, a dirty window. The sunlight filtering in clearly showed her good looks and sly smile.

The two other men standing nearby were much less elegantly dressed than the dark-haired man. Both were dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans.

A smile lighted on the dark-haired man's face as he looked at the two men standing in front of him. "You're sure it's been destroyed, Mack?" he asked. "Absolutely certain?"

"Yes, sir," Mack said respectfully, shooting a glance at Corby, his companion. "There isn't any way for him to hide now. Everything in that old warehouse is in smoldering matchsticks."

"Good," the dark man said, nodding slowly as he leaned back in his chair. "Now that the car has been done away with, I can finally get my hands on Michael Knight." His fingers gripped the table with hatred. "Finally, after so many years, I will avenge my beloved's death once and for all."

* * *

Can anybody guess who the woman in the photograph is? I'll give you some hints - we know her from season two, and she appeared in two episodes.


	5. Narrowing the Suspects

Okay, here it is! Sorry for the lack of action in this chapter. Just a little bit further investigating. The next chapter will be longer and have more action, I promise!

* * *

"**What has changed** since I was deactivated?" Kitt requested curiously.

Michael shrugged. He and McKenna were going back to the Foundation with Kitt to pick up their old station wagon, which they had left in the parking lot at FLAG, and to have a chat with Mr. Lowry. Leya had stayed home at Kitt's request. "Not much," he said. "Except for McKenna."

"Is Ethan Lowry still the director of FLAG?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Michael sighed in disgust. To McKenna, he added, "Lowry doesn't deserve to be the director. After Kitt was gone, there wasn't any reason for me to stay with FLAG anymore, and I couldn't stand Lowry, so I left."

"I never liked him much," Kitt put in. "But then, of course, I'm rather biased since Devon was there when I was first activated. I still miss him."

A cloud of pain flashed over Michael's face. "I do, too, pal," he sighed. "We all do."

"Besides," Kitt went on, "Ethan Lowry has a rather shady past for my liking."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What kind of shady past? And why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't want to insult him, as he was our new boss," Kitt explained. "You see, he spent a month in jail for attempted murder before he came to us, but he was bailed before he was sentenced any longer."

McKenna shivered. "Not the kind of guy you'd want to mess with, huh?"

"Hardly," Kitt agreed.

"You can say that again," Michael muttered as he furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Kitt…is there anything else on Lowry I should know?"

His daughter glanced at him in surprise, but Kitt was used to Michael's sudden suspicions, and used to the fact that he was usually right. "Not much," he admitted. "Just that he was arrested once for drunk driving and that he was engaged fifteen years ago to a criminal who is altogether too familiar to me."

Michael frowned. "Who?"

"Adrienne St. Clair."

Michael drew in a sharp breath. "And you were going to leave that part out?"

McKenna interrupted. "Dad, who's she?"

"Old friend," Michael said darkly. "She nearly killed Kitt once, and later she teamed up with Wilton's evil son Garthe. They tried to kill both Kitt and me. In the end, she and Garthe were killed when they drove over a cliff. It kind of surprises me that she was engaged in the first place. She didn't seem like the type that would ever settle down with just _one_ man."

"Remember that Mr. Lowry is quite wealthy," Kitt reminded him. "That would be my guess."

"Ah-ha." Michael raised his eyebrows. "Well, that would make sense, then. She was always power hungry and greedy, and she knew how to use beauty to get what she wanted." He made a face.

"He may have changed since he loved her," Kitt reminded Michael.

Michael grimaced. "A leopard can never truly change its spots, pal."

"I beg your pardon?" Kitt sounded puzzled. "Of course a leopard can't change its spots. Their black fur is permanently pigmented. What on earth does a wild jungle feline have to do with Ethan Lowry?"

McKenna bit back a snort of laughter, and even Michael smiled. "It's an expression," he explained. "It means that a person can't truly change who they are."

"Oh. I see."

They pulled into the parking lot at FLAG near the Jeep.

"Go ahead and drive it home," Michael called to her as he got out of Kitt. "I'm going to have a talk with Lowry."

McKenna smiled knowingly and nodded. "Good luck." She caught the keys as her father tossed them to her.

"See ya," he called as she drove the Jeep home.

Michael then got back into Kitt and parked him in a more remote spot where he wouldn't easily be seen. He wanted to keep Kitt's safety a secret for now, until they knew what was going on.

"Okay," Michael murmured as he parked Kitt under the cover of a low maple. He held up his wrist to show a small, old wristwatch with several buttons and gadgets. "I have the comlink with me, but there wasn't time for Bonnie to check it over before we left this morning. Is it functional?"

"Perfectly, Michael," Kitt answered.

"Good," he breathed. "I want you to listen in on our conversation. Use your voice stress analyzer to detect anything that might indicate that he's lying. Will you do that for me, partner?"

There was a brief pause. "Michael, this feels just like old times," Kitt said quietly. "Of course I will."

"**Come in," Lowry's** deep voice called in response to Michael's rap on the door. He winced and sighed. He missed Devon's cheerful greeting.

Instead of dwelling on memories, he opened the door to find Ethan Lowry sitting at the desk of the FLAG office, looking through some papers.

Ethan Lowry was about five foot nine, in his late forties or early fifties. His dark hair was graying slowly, and he was impeccably dressed in a showy blue blazer and white dress pants.

When he saw Michael enter the room, a look of shock passed over his face for an instant.

Then the instant was gone, and the shock was replaced with a welcoming smile. "Michael!" He quickly put away the papers he'd been looking at as he spoke, and then he got up to shake hands with Michael. "It's been so long! How are you?"

"Fine," he answered, smiling coolly back as he shook Ethan's hand. "Hey, listen, I heard about the explosion yesterday."

Ethan nodded. "Yes, a real shame. There was a lot lost."

Michael decided to be blunt and get right to the point. "Including the Knight Two Thousand?"

His features froze. "Why, Michael, you know as well as I do that the Two Thousand was destroyed in a missile attack nearly twenty years ago. What makes you think it was in the warehouse?"

Michael wriggled the comlink on his wrist and crossed his arms in front of him. He wanted to be sure that Kitt was getting every word of this.

"Because I saw it with my own eyes," he said in reply to Ethan in a dangerously quiet voice. "It was there at the time of the explosion. And I have reason to believe that the missiles were directed at Kitt."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"Mr. Lowry, I would appreciate it if you told me why the car was destroyed while it was sitting in the Foundation's storage room for nineteen years," Michael growled.

"Believe me, this is a shock to me as well!" Mr. Lowry exclaimed, running a hand through his dark hair and turning back to his desk. "This is…this is impossible. The computer was destroyed and the car with it!" He looked up at Michael. "Was the Knight Two Thousand rescued from the explosion?"

Michael bit his lip. "No."

An unreadable expression flickered across the man's face before he turned away from Michael. "Terrible," he muttered, shaking his head. "Just terrible."

Michael waited for a few moments as Lowry gazed out the window to the garden and was glad he had parked Kitt on the other side of the mansion.

Finally he turned back to Michael. "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about it. But I'll have some of FLAG's operatives investigate it further."

Michael nodded. "Thank you. I have somewhere I've got to be, so I'll get going now. Keep in touch, huh? I'd like to know what happened to Kitt." He began backing towards the door.

"Of course. Goodbye, Michael."

Michael said goodbye, and then hurried out to the parking lot.

"Well?" Michael asked as he approached his old partner, knowing well by now what Kitt's answer would be. "What do you think?"

"The man couldn't lie to a five-year-old," Kitt replied flatly. "He's guilty."

"I know, pal," Michael sighed tensely as he got into Kitt's cabin. "Let's get home so we can think this over a little, huh?"

"I couldn't agree more, Michael."

Michael nodded slowly before requesting, "Kitt, see if there's a call going out. If Lowry's our man, he might be contacting somebody right about now."

There was a brief pause. "Sorry, Michael. The phone lines are quiet."

Michael sighed in irritation. "Who else is there here that could have any connection to the two guys that tried to kill us the other day, and possibly Ethan Lowry?"

Kitt was silent for a moment as he searched his databases. "Only one other man," he said. "Even then, it's only through shopping at their store. His name is Robert Jones, and he works here as a waiter and cook. I find it rather hard to believe that he may have anything to do with as big of a crime as this."

"Yeah, but we've got to keep open minds here, buddy. Anyone could be guilty." Michael sighed heavily, thinking with a grimace how true those words were.


	6. One Man's Dream

Again, not the most exciting chapter. Sorry about that. DISCLAIMER: Kitt, Michael Knight, and Bonnie Barstow do not belong to me. Ethan Lowry, McKenna Knight, and Kiara are mine.

* * *

_Chapter Five: One Man's Dream_

"**You're planning to** do…_what_?" Bonnie repeated incredulously.

"Tail Lowry until we get some answers." He shot her a puzzled look. "What's wrong with that?"

The two were in the living room. Michael was lounging on the leather couch and Bonnie was standing over him, her arms folded across her chest.

"Michael, you're not as young as you used to be," she groaned, running a hand through her hair. "Please try to understand. I don't want you to go off and get involved in a case, and then get killed just because you thought you could do something you just can't!"

He was astonished. "Bonnie, what the heck are you talking about? Why doubt me all of a sudden? I did this for ten years! I think I can do a little tailing for a few days."

"And what comes after that?" She glared at him. "Finding his hideout. Then exposing him. Then you are just going to have to try and put him away. And that always involves some kind of chase or fight."

"Bonnie, please. I can do –"

"No!" She whirled around and put her hand on her forehead as if she had a headache. "I-I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to yell. I just don't want anything to happen to you, or to Kitt."

Michael stood up. He walked up to her and put an arm on her shoulders. "Hey. I'll be careful, Bon, I promise. But listen to me. I can't stand by and let these people try and destroy our family without doing something." A sigh escaped him. "I'm sorry. I've got to go through with this."

She turned to look up at him, and Michael was surprised to see tears beginning to brim in her eyes. "I can't lose him again," she whispered. "After so many years…I don't want to lose Kitt again. And I won't be able to bear it if I lose you, too…please, don't go, Michael." She rested her head on his chest and sighed.

Michael hugged her tightly. "It'll be fine," he murmured. "I promise. I'll be careful."

"Sometimes careful isn't enough," she warned.

Michael paused, a flicker of uncertainty coming over him. What if she was right…?

"I'll think about it," he finally said after a long pause. "I'll think about it. Okay?" He leaned down to look into her eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She sighed shakily. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"All right." He kissed her gently and then pulled away and headed for the garage door.

His mind was awhirl with questions. What if Bonnie was right? Was he too old to do it now?

Michael hated the thought, but he had to give it consideration.

He cracked open the door that attached the two-car garage to the house. He poked his head into the room to see Kitt, his red scanner tracking back and forth slowly as he rested. "Good night, Kitt," he called quietly.

"Good night, Michael," Kitt replied.

Michael smiled and was about to leave when his friend called him back. "Uh, Michael?"

He turned.

Now Kitt's scanner had picked up the pace just a little bit, showing his slight unease. "I never quite got the chance to thank you," he said. "For…for saving me. I appreciate it. Would you tell McKenna I said thanks, too?"

"Sure, I will," Michael said, smiling. "And you are very welcome. See you in the morning, huh?" He winked at Kitt and smiled.

"Yes, Michael. Good night," Kitt returned the quiet exchange as Michael gently closed the door.

Once he was gone, Kitt's red scanner trickled into darkness, and Kitt fell into recharge.

Michael tromped up the short flight of three stairs to the kitchen, and then turned the corner. If he went straight, it would lead him to the family room. To his left was a T-shaped hallway. The vertical part of the T contained the doorways to the attic and to the guest room. The bathroom, the master suite and McKenna's bedroom were all located on the horizontal side of the T.

Michael headed to his daughter's bedroom.

Smiling slightly at the horse posters plastered on the door, he knocked.

"Come in!" McKenna called cheerfully.

Michael cracked the door open and peeked in to see his daughter sitting up in bed, the covers around her curled-up legs. She had been reading a book and absently petting Leya, who was curled up on the bed beside her mistress.

When Michael came in the room, Leya raised her head and thumped her tail warmly against the soft quilt. McKenna looked up and smiled. "Hi, dad. What's up?"

"I just came to bring you a message from Kitt. He says thanks for saving him." Michael smiled and walked over to sit beside her on her bed.

"Oh, that." McKenna looked sheepish for some reason. "That was just an accident. Though if I had known what was going to happen, of course I would have wanted to save him," she added quickly. "That didn't make much sense. Sorry."

"I understand," Michael chuckled.

Everything was quiet for a moment. Then at last Michael asked quietly, "Do you think I'm too old to be chasing after criminals?"

Her eyes widened. "No way! I bet you could take down Ethan Lowry with just one swing."

"Hey, cool it," he warned playfully. "We don't even know if Lowry's the one behind this. I'm just suspicious, that's all."

"You should go after him," McKenna continued excitedly. "You've got to get back at him for what he did to you and Kitt! You just have to! It wouldn't seem right otherwise." She pouted.

Michael didn't laugh. "McKenna, this is serious. I'm not making this up," he warned her. "It's not fun and games. It's dangerous. I should know, after doing it all my life." He sighed and put an arm on her shoulder. "McKenna, I want you to be safe. I don't want you getting caught up in this. Whoever is behind this is very dangerous, and I'm afraid that he will try to hurt us. I'm telling you this because I don't want you getting hurt, and you are old enough to understand that you need to stay out of it. I'm not sure what we're going to do next."

McKenna looked at him for a moment, unfazed. "I think we should fight back," she said calmly.

He blinked, secretly impressed. He had expected her to be frightened, not confident. "You do, huh?"

"Absolutely," McKenna said sensibly. "That's the only way we'll get him out of our hair, right?"

Michael finally smiled. He gave her a squeeze around the shoulders. "Right. You get some sleep, now." He gave McKenna a kiss on the cheek, and she returned it.

"Okay, dad, I will. Good night."

"Night, sweetie."

**Dark. Everything was** so dark. Michael squinted into the one patch of light shining from the ceiling.

Instinctively, he stepped into it.

At once he froze as he looked around him. This was familiar. He had done this before…

"Do you remember this, Michael?"

The voice seemed to be coming from all around him – from the sky, from all sides, from below. He froze in shock at the old, familiar voice. He hadn't heard it in thirty years, but he knew it instantly.

"Wilton?" he whispered, looking up.

"It is I." Again, he heard the booming voice, but could not see who spoke it.

"Where are you?" Michael called. "I can't see you!"

Wilton's voice had a hint of amusement when he next spoke. "You should know that I am always near." Michael looked up as the darkness parted above him to reveal a blinding, shining warmth and light.

He blinked against the warm light and saw Wilton Knight in the sky. "Do you remember what I told you long ago?" Wilton asked, his voice rumbling through the dark.

"You told me that one man could make a difference!" Michael cried desperately. "I've made my difference. Now I have a duty to my family! I can't put them in danger!"

Wilton smiled. "Of course not. There will be a lot of danger you will need to overcome, but I can at least assure you that what happens will turn out for the best. And you will have a guardian with you at all times. His name is Kitt."

"Kitt?" Michael shook his head, pain crossing his features. "Kitt's not even sure if he can trust me. We can't work together when we're not sure where we stand with one another!"

But Wilton seemed calm. "Do not mistake your partner's pain for disloyalty," he warned gently. "You must find for yourself what happened, and why Kitt believes you betrayed him."

"Can't you tell me?" Michael called hopefully.

"I cannot," Wilton replied regretfully. "But help has already been sent to you. This person is young and untested and does not know the dangers of this line of work. But do not worry. The person we have chosen has all the fire and strength that you possess, Michael."

"Who is it?"

"Michael, you will have to find that out on your own, and that is only if you choose to follow the path that has been laid out for you." He raised his head. "Do not forget your destiny, Michael."

"But I can't!" Michael shouted to the slowly but steadily brightening light. "I used to be someone who could make a difference, but I've changed. I can't do it anymore."

Suddenly the brightness flashed and flared until it was very nearly blinding. Michael felt as though a lightning bolt had been seared straight through him, and he had to close his eyes against it.

"Do not forget your destiny," Wilton repeated in an even louder voice, and Michael opened his eyes to see the man staring firmly down at him. "You are the one man who can make a difference, and your time is almost upon you. Do not forget." Wilton's form began to fade, and the brightness decreased.

"Wait!" Michael cried, but it was too late. He began to run desperately. "What am I supposed to do?"

All of a sudden, two bright headlights unfolded to glare into the dark as a red streak flashed between them. The lights were only inches in front of him. Michael skidded to a halt, gasping.

"Kitt?"

Michael opened his eyes, breathing heavily. He tried to blink, tried to see the headlights. Where was Kitt? He'd been here…now everything was dark.

Suddenly he felt somebody moving next to him. Looking over, he saw the back of Bonnie's head on the pillow next to him.

He sighed and slumped back down. It had been a dream. Nothing more than a dream.

But as he tried to get back to sleep, Wilton's voice haunted him. What had he meant? Had he really been trying to tell him something?

Michael shook his head firmly. No. No, people who had passed on don't really communicate to you in dreams! That was an old wives' tale of sorts.

But still, an uneasy feeling had come over him, and he couldn't help thinking that Wilton Knight had really appeared to him in his dream to foretell him of what was to come.

"**Can you believe** this?" Bonnie muttered the next morning. "Kitt hasn't even had the time to get a tune-up after being deactivated for nearly twenty years, and Michael crashes him through a wall. Can you believe your father?"

McKenna was watching with some amusement as her mother crawled under Kitt, muttering to both him and McKenna about Michael. She chuckled. "I don't think he did it on purpose, mom," she pointed out.

She grimaced. "Probably not, but this is hardly the first time Kitt has come back with damage no thanks to Michael's impulsiveness. Probably more like the hundredth."

"The two hundred and eighty fifth since the year 1983, Bonnie," Kitt corrected her.

McKenna and Bonnie laughed. "Since when did you start keeping track of all the times you were damaged?" Bonnie chuckled, tightening a few bolts.

"Since that banana-nosed behemoth Goliath had me lying half-functional in the desert," Kitt retorted. "I've been keeping track of Michael's injury record ever since our first mission."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "If I remember that day correctly, he just about scared the daylights out of Devon and I when he came back almost bleeding to death that evening." She glared at Kitt. "And I'll never forget what I thought when I saw you, Kitt."

McKenna chuckled. "What did you think?"

"I thought, 'Oh, _no_, is _this_ what my baby is going to have to work with?' It didn't help when just a week later, Kitt came in with a shorted alpha circuit from Michael asking him to actually _tow_ another car." She wrinkled her brow.

"Bonnie, Michael has always done his best to make sure I stay safe," Kitt protested. "But it is my job to protect him, and sometimes I have to sacrifice a few shorted circuits –"

"Or nearly getting yourself killed."

"Or nearly getting myself killed," Kitt corrected himself, "to save Michael. It's in my programming, and besides, I _want_ Michael to stay safe. Even if my basic programming didn't demand it, you know that I would risk my life for any of you."

Bonnie sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry."

McKenna broke the brief silence following their exchange. "Are you going to put Kiara in a car, too, mom?"

"Kiara?" Kitt echoed. "Who's Kiara?"

Bonnie smiled proudly. "The Knight Industries Advanced Roving Automation," she said. "The new AI I'm working on. I've just been tinkering with her lately. I don't know if I'll ever actually activate her, but it's nice to know that she's there, just in case. To answer your question, McKenna, I've been toying with the idea for some time, but I don't know yet. I might." She shot McKenna a curious look. "I definitely will, though, if you decide you want to get involved with this mission."

"Dad doesn't want me to," McKenna said in a stubborn voice that nearly mirrored Michael's when he had made up his mind. "But I'm going to. There is somebody out there who wants to hurt us, and I'll make sure that he'll have to watch us from behind bars from now on."

Bonnie turned to smile at her daughter. "You're so much like your father sometimes, it kills me."

**That evening was** quiet for the most part. The family was out in the living room, lounging on the couch or the floor. Bonnie was fiddling with some computer component, Michael was reading a magazine, and McKenna was rereading a horse-training book for the hundredth time. Everything was quiet – that was, until, McKenna put her book down and looked nervously at her family.

"I want to help you send Lowry to prison, dad."

A shocked silence hung over the room for a moment. Bonnie glanced uneasily from McKenna to Michael.

Michael looked taken aback. "What?"

"Please, please, _please_ let me help you track Ethan Lowry down," McKenna begged him.

Michael held up a hand. "I'm sorry, but no, McKenna," he said firmly. "I'm going to have to do this on my own. I'm sorry."

McKenna frowned. "Is it because I'm a girl, or because I'm only sixteen? Dad, I can handle it!"

Michael began to argue before McKenna had even finished speaking, and Bonnie held up a hand to stop both of them. "Wait, wait, wait!" she called for silence. "Hold up, you two. Michael, let her talk, please."

"I just want to help you out with this one case!" McKenna flung in before he could say anything else to them. "Come on, please let me? I'll be really, really careful, and I won't get in your way. Just let me try! Please!"

Michael cast Bonnie a pleading look.

"Kiara's nearly ready," she supplied helpfully. "I can put her in a car, too, so that McKenna will have the same protection you have from Kitt." She winked at McKenna, who looked delighted.

Michael glared balefully at her. "That wasn't the help I asked for," he grumbled under his breath.

"Bringing an AI into the world isn't nearly as simple as it sounds," Bonnie continued, ignoring him. "But I can do it. And I found a something that will do for the car body." She turned to McKenna. "It's a blue 2003 Mustang. How's that for you first car?"

McKenna squealed in delight. "Oh, my God! I can't thank you enough!" She threw herself into her mother's arms, hugging her in delight. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

"Hold on a minute here!" Michael protested. "I haven't even said okay yet, and you guys are acting like I just gave the biggest yes ever!"

McKenna smiled smugly at him. "Once you see me and Kiara, you will," she predicted confidently. "I know we'll be great!"

Michael threw his hands up in mock defeat. "I can see I'm outnumbered here. All right, you can help me and Kitt for this _one_ mission."

Yes!

* * *

And my new AI is introduced! Sort of. : ) More about Kiara in the next chapter!


	7. The Heat Is On

YAY! A new chapter is finished! Sorry about the wait. This is a rather long chapter compared to what I usually write : ) Enjoy and be sure to review!

DISCLAIMER: Michael Knight, KITT, Bonnie Barstow, Devon Miles, and Adrianne St. Clair do not belong to me. However McKenna Knight, Kiara, and the dog do : )

* * *

**One week later, **McKenna took Kitt to go pick up a pizza for dinner. She switched the radio onto the country music station and tapped her free foot on the floorboards to the music.

Before long she was singing. "Yeah, days go by. I can feel 'em flying like a hand out the window in the wind. Cars go by. It's all we've been given, so you'd better start living right now…"

"You know, McKenna, your taste in music isn't nearly as dreadful as your father's," Kitt teased her. "But it could use some fine-tuning."

"What?" she laughed. "Okay, fine. What would you prefer? What's better than country?"

Smoothly, he flipped over to a classical music station, and they listened to Beethoven's Symphony Number Nine for a few minutes.

McKenna smiled. "I like it."

"Really?" He sounded surprised. "Michael and I always argued about music. I like classical, and he likes –"

"Hard rock," McKenna put in, rolling her eyes. "Oh, I can't stand the noise. It's the one thing worse than heavy metal."

"I agree!" Kitt exclaimed. "At last, I have found someone who can actually appreciate the beauty of music."

McKenna laughed.

By the time the two got back with two steaming hot pepperoni pizzas, it was nearly dark. McKenna stepped out, balancing the pizza boxes, and walked towards the house. "Kitt, open the garage door, please?"

"Certainly." There was a brief pause, and then the door slid open.

"Thanks," McKenna called cheerfully. She turned towards the garage, and then did a double take.

In the middle of the garage sat a gleaming Mustang. She didn't know cars very well so she wasn't quite sure of it's year, but she guessed it to be a 2003 or 2004 model. Its coat was a reflective purple-blue that shimmered even in the dim light of the garage, and a single black stripe swept up the hood and across the roof.

Then, just above the front grille, a teal band of light flared. The light quickly began to track back and forth, sweeping gracefully to an electronic whir. The sound wasn't exactly the same – it was more of a tinny, dainty whine than Kitt's deep whoosh – and the scanner was teal, not red like Kitt's. But it was close enough for McKenna to know exactly who this car was.

At that moment her mother opened the door to the garage. "Surprise!" she laughed. "You came home earlier than we expected."

McKenna's jaw dropped in bewilderment as her father stepped out of the deep blue car. "McKenna," he began proudly. "Meet Kiara."

"Hello, Ms. Knight," Kiara said politely. "I understand you are to be my driver."

"You can just call me McKenna," she said, still slightly shocked. "Nobody's ever called me Ms. Knight before. Dad, is this car really mine?"

Her dad opened his mouth to say something, but Kitt cut him off.

"Ahem." Kitt cleared his throat just to be sure that everyone remembered he was still there. Then he turned to the AI. "Hello, Kiara," he said politely. "I am the Knight Industries Two Thousand; Kitt for short. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you, Kitt," the younger AI responded. "And the pleasure is all mine."

McKenna turned to Bonnie. "Mom? Can I take her for a drive? Please?"

Bonnie smiled. "We can take her out, but I'm going to have to drive," she said. "I still have to run a few more tests to make sure Kiara's as she should be."

McKenna climbed into the passenger seat as her mother strapped herself into the drivers' seat. Michael waved them off cheerfully as Kiara sped up the driveway and down the road.

"I have to warn you that this car isn't as well-protected as Kitt is," Bonnie cautioned McKenna. "I haven't gotten around to putting on the MBS yet."

"Why not?" McKenna sounded puzzled.

Bonnie grimaced. "Long story. Kitt's molecular bonded shell is a spray-on formula, made up from three components that are extremely classified, and the solution makes the car virtually indestructible. Originally, there were only three people who knew the formula; each person knowing one ingredient. But the secret was spilled, and now the formula is kept in a classified document in the FLAG mansion. McKenna, I don't know the formula. Kiara is, as of right now, unprotected by the MBS. I've given her the best armor I can, but it's not nearly as strong as the MBS is. So no crashing into walls or anything until I can get the formula. Got it?"

McKenna nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir!"

Bonnie cast McKenna a look, and then turned up another street. "I also have something else for you two." When they stopped at a red light, Bonnie pulled something out of her pocket and proudly showed it to McKenna. It was a wristwatch. At first glance, there was nothing special about it. Just a black digital wristwatch that sported several buttons on the sides and a radio function.

"This is a comlink," Bonnie said as McKenna took it. "Right now, it's set to receive and transmit to Kitt only, but it's programmed for Kiara, too. You just have to reset it. Now, Michael has one as well, so you'll be able to communicate with both him and Kitt, all right?"

"Great," McKenna said excitedly, strapping the comlink around her wrist.

"Be careful with it."

"I will be, I promise."

"Good girl." Bonnie grinned at her. "Wanna drive now?"

"Do I ever!"

"All right, let me pull in here so we can switch seats."

Bonnie gently pulled Kiara into a parking lot and she and McKenna traded seats. McKenna paused for a moment and sighed softly. She scooted around in the seat, trying to get a feel for the car. It was her car. Kiara, her very own AI car. She wanted to squeal in delight.

Going down the road, McKenna drove as gently as she could, not wanting to damage the car. She felt like she was handling a baby.

Kiara was easy and smooth to drive. To her surprise, driving Kiara was actually easier than her old Chevy. She'd expected Kiara to be ten times more complicated, what with all the fancy functions and buttons to press.

"What do most of these buttons do?" McKenna asked, gesturing to the elaborate dashboard as they cruised down the road.

"You'll find out in time," Bonnie assured her with a smile. "Kiara has most of Kitt's functions, plus a few more that I added. Kiara can explain all of them to you when the time comes."

McKenna smiled and proudly turned back to the road. She was driving one of the most expensive and advanced cars in the world. And it was her new partner. They could work together as a team to help make the world a better place. The thought sent happy shivers racing down her spine.

The three of them turned up an empty dirt road. Kiara was so easy to drive, so smooth! McKenna had never felt another car like this one. This was one amazing vehicle.

They were mostly alone on the little country road except for a truck that had followed them. Pastures and fields surrounded them, filled with cows and horses and crops.

"Bonnie," Kiara began nervously. "Are my scanners all right?"

Bonnie quickly skimmed her eyes over the dash, looking for signs of anything wrong. "I don't see anything wrong."

"Then I'm afraid we're under attack."

"What?" Bonnie and McKenna yelped in unison as they stared in horror at the voice box.

"My scanners are showing two heavily armed men with a gun inside the truck behind us," Kiara reported nervously. "The car is armored as well, and there is currently a man preparing to throw three handheld grenades at us."

Bonnie's face hardened. "McKenna, get out of here!" she commanded. "Kiara, pursuit."

Obediently the car flipped smoothly into pursuit mode and the car tore up the road. McKenna gasped as gravity slammed her against the back of the seat, and she struggled to keep her grip on the wheel. Never, ever had she felt such an amazing surge of power in her life! She wanted to feel thrilled and excited, but it was slightly hard to be happy when there was someone trying to kill you.

Suddenly there was a deafening explosion behind them, and McKenna flinched. Kiara was too far away for it to do any damage to her, but it shook her entire frame.

McKenna was desperately trying to remember what her father had done in this situation. "Kiara, scan the license plates on that truck before it gets too far away!" she commanded.

"Yes, McKenna. It reads 'BLK 33688', and it is a California plate."

"Good. Are they preparing any more attacks on us?"

A brief pause. "Two more bombs."

McKenna made a face and pushed Kiara a little faster. In a matter of minutes they'd left the truck in the dust. But McKenna didn't slow the car down until they were miles and miles away from it.

She swallowed hard as she brought Kiara to a slow halt at a red light. She turned to her mother. "What a test drive!" she gasped.

Bonnie grimaced. "That was a bit more exciting that I'd originally planned on," she grumbled, her voice slightly shaky.

"McKenna?" Kiara began uneasily.

"Yeah, what is it, Kiara?"

"The men in that truck were Mack Payne and Corby Grant." A pause.

McKenna's eyes widened. "The guys who tried to blow me, dad and Kitt up back at the warehouse?"

"The very same," Kiara confirmed. "And Mr. Payne was talking on a cellular phone while driving." Another pause. "Ethan Lowry's number was on the other end of the phone line."

McKenna gritted her teeth. "And the heat is on," she mumbled.

**Michael glared at** the mansion as though he could make Lowry feel the heat of his stare. After McKenna and Bonnie had told him what happened on their test drive, he'd driven Kitt straight to the Knight Mansion. "Is he in his office, Kitt?" he muttered under his breath.

"Yes, Michael," Kitt responded. "Currently, he is going through some file cabinets."

"Is there anybody else nearby the office?"

"No, Michael."

"All right, then. I'm going in. Give me a shout if anything starts to happen."

Kitt agreed and gave him the usual "Be careful", and then Michael was heading casually towards the mansion. He opened the door and glanced around. No one in sight. Relived that no one seemed to have noticed him, Michael slipped up the stairs unseen.

He knew exactly where the office was. He quietly crept down the hall until he reached Lowry's office. Without knocking, he quietly turned the door handle and looked inside. He came face-to-face with Ethan Lowry.

"Michael Knight!" Lowry gasped. Michael was momentarily surprised by the man's appearance. His graying hair was unusually untidy, and his tie was crooked. Anger blazed behind his eyes, and Michael knew at once that something had happened. Most likely, it had to do with them. But for the moment, Michael chose to be blunt.

"I want answers, and I want answers fast," he said in a dangerously low tone.

"What are you talking about?" Lowry sputtered.

"I want to know what's been going on around here," Michael growled, advancing on Lowry, who stepped back nervously. "First it was the car. Now I nearly loose my daughter and wife in a bomb attack, and I have a good reason to believe that both men are working for you."

Lowry's face was turning red with anger. "Who are you to accuse me of such things?" he stammered in fury. "I want you out of my office now!" He held up a hand to point to the door.

But as he raised his arm, Michael caught sight of some papers that Lowry had apparently dug out of his file cabinets. He recognized the plump face of Corby Grant, one of the henchmen who'd blown up the FLAG warehouse.

Moving like lightning, he darted around Lowry and snatched the papers up. Lowry shouted out in protest, but Michael had already grabbed them. "What's this?" Michael chuckled darkly. "Ah, the employment papers for Corby Grant. Isn't he the same guy who blew up the warehouse?"

"You have no proof of that!" Lowry hissed.

Michael's eyes sparkled in satisfaction. Lowry was falling right into the trap Michael had laid out for him. "Actually, I do. I can have Kitt pull up the photos from when he detonated that warehouse. He and Mack Payne are guilty, Lowry – and so are you. Give it up." He held his breath. Would Lowry catch on at the last second?

To his relief, he didn't. He pointed a finger at Michael and snarled, "Listen up! The Knight Two Thousand belongs to me, and me only! I shall do with it as I please! It is not yours to take and I will remove it from your custody at once!"

He smirked. "So you _do_ know that I rescued Kitt from the explosion. I could've sworn I told you he'd been destroyed. Well, well, well."

Suddenly the beet red color of Lowry's face turned to pale white. "That thing shall be destroyed, no matter what it takes," Lowry snarled. "I don't care if I have to kill you, as well! I will destroy it!"

Michael felt shock slam into his mind. "What has Kitt ever done to you?" he spat, fury blazing in his eyes.

"Kitt killed her," Lowry whispered in a barely contained fury that Michael never would have believed if he hadn't seen it for himself. "He killed my sweet Adrienne!"

Michael's stunned face settled into a scowl. "You're insane," he said in a low tone. "You know just as well as I do that Kitt can never, ever, _ever_ take a human life. Not even the life of a wicked and scheming snake like Adrienne St. Clair!"

Lowry's face turned back to red. "But he did," he growled, his voice raspy and furious. "He took the one I loved more than anyone else in the world away from me. She was willing to do anything to get that computer. She wanted it more than anything in the world! Now I'll finish the job for her!"

"No, you've got it wrong," Michael growled, his anger becoming hard to contain. "She wanted me. She wanted the car so she could get to me. That was all she ever wanted."

"Why you?" Lowry sneered. "She had me! Why should I believe you?"

Michael narrowed his eyes. "Because you know it's true," he said in a very low voice, his eyes shooting sparks of fury. "If you loved her like you say you did, you knew her well enough to know that she'd take a man over anything. It was never Kitt she wanted. It was me! It's me you should be taking revenge on!"

Kitt was listening outside, stiff with horror. No! Why was Michael saying this? He was just going to make himself the target instead of Kitt!

With a howl of fury, Lowry threw himself at Michael, fists flying.

Michael easily dodged the punches and jumped to the side. Lowry picked up a glass bowl and threw it at him. Michael ducked; the bowl shattered on the wall behind him.

Outside, Kitt had sensed the danger, and was making a run for it to the office balcony.

Michael grunted as he made a swing for Lowry and felt his fist connect with the man's shoulder. Angrily, Lowry leapt towards him but Michael jumped aside again so that Lowry nearly stumbled into the desk.

To Michael's relief, a familiar voice shouted over the chaos. "Michael! I'm below the balcony. Jump!"

Michael turned and sprinted towards the balcony, ignoring Lowry's cries of protest. He took a brief glance at Kitt, parked below him with the T-top wide open, and then catapulted himself over the railing. Kitt quickly raised his left seat into the air and positioned himself so that he was exactly where Michael would fall.

Kitt gently caught Michael and lowered the seat, softening the impact of his fall. Michael glanced up as the T-top whirred close again. He could barely hear Lowry screaming for reinforcements from above them. "Let's get a move on, pal."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Michael," Kitt stated as they spun around and headed for the gates.

They tore out of the parking lot and through the gates, which were already open. Michael glanced behind them suspiciously. "That was easy," he remarked worriedly. "Too easy. Scan the entire area for me, Kitt. What's he got up his sleeve?"

"There's a semi truck and trailer blocking the road ahead, Michael."

Michael began to relax. "Well, if that's all he's planning, then –"

"I'm afraid that's not all, Michael," Kitt broke in. "The truck's trailer is filled with ten tons of solid concrete, and we can't jump over it. It's too tall."

Michael frowned. "Can't we get around it?"

"No, Michael. There's dense forest on either side of the road."

"In that case…we're just gonna have to roll with the punches. All right. Get ready, partner!"

"Michael?" Kitt sounded alarmed. "What are you planning?"

He was answered with silence.

Kitt was getting increasingly worried as the truck came into view. "Michael?" he called, close to panicking. "Michael!"

Michael's answer horrified him even more, if possible. "Turbo boost, now!" Michael hollered as he slammed on the accelerator and whacked the turbo boost button.

Kitt's turbo boosters fired and with a whoosh of air, they took off straight towards the truck.

* * *

Ack, cliffhanger! :p Next chapter is almost finished, so I promise I won't leave you hanging for too long. Or will I?... ; )


	8. Out Of The Past

Okay, new chapter! It took longer than I'd thought to get this up, because I kinda totally reworked the plot. As a result, I'll be editing the previous chapters slightly. SLIGHTLY. ;D Oh, and a new/old character is reintroduced in this chapter! He was pretty darn annoyed at being left out, so I had to please him and give him a spot in the story. Anywho, enjoy!

* * *

_Out Of the Past_

**Kitt thought for** a panicked and fleeting instant that they were going to crash, and there was no way on earth that he could penetrate that much solid concrete!

But at the last instant Michael reached down and fired off the front grappling hook, which fastened itself firmly in a tree beyond the semi trailer.

Instantly realizing Michael's crazily insane plan, Kitt quickly reeled in his grappling hook. The rope tightened just as they were about to crash into the huge trailer, and Kitt dragged himself higher into the air.

His nose flew into the air, and his back wheels hit the concrete truck with a sickening _thud_. But in a desperate struggle, Kitt managed to heave himself up onto the top of the semi trailer, where he sat for a brief moment, stunned.

At Michael's silent command, he released the grappling hook and pulled the rope back into the compartment in his bumper. Then Michael slammed on the gas and whacked turbo boost at the exact same time.

Four point ten seconds after they'd launched themselves off of the solid ground into what had seemed like certain death, Michael and Kitt landed safely, if not jarringly, on the other side of the semi trailer. Without waiting, Michael pressed Kitt faster down the road, fleeing back to Michael's house.

"Michael, that was the most foolhardy thing I've ever seen anyone do in my life!" Kitt exploded.

"Yeah, but it worked," Michael replied, trying to grin.

"Barely."

"You worry too much." Michael smirked, and then glanced behind them. Two SUVs were chasing them. "All right, partner, let's lose these guys."

For about five minutes, the SUVs chased them down the country road. Nothing seemed to elude them. They were almost as fast as Kitt himself!

The street was strangely deserted. After about six minutes, they came across another car on the road – a black Camero.

"I hope that guy has enough sense to stay away from us," Michael muttered, swerving the wheel slightly. Kitt agreed silently.

But the Camero didn't avoid them. Instead, it swerved to the side and darted behind Michael and Kitt – straight into the path of the SUVs. Michael gasped, looked back, and spun Kitt in a one-eighty in the middle of the road.

Horns blared in protest as the Camero charged boldly up to the two black SUVs. The smell of burning rubber was thick in the air as the sound of Kitt's tires squealing joined that of the Camero's. To Kitt's horror, the man driving the Camero was getting out of his car! The boy was young, perhaps seventeen or so, with short-cropped black hair. He was quick as he sprinted towards the enemy.

Michael yanked Kitt to a halt, hastily set him in park, and darted out to help the other man. The men in the SUVs were climbing out, but surprisingly, none were armed. One man rushed up to Michael and tried to take him out with a swing of his huge fist. Michael dodged easily.

Kitt then glanced over at the boy, and was only mildly surprised to see him holding his own against the thugs, almost as easily as Michael was. The man looked like he knew life beyond his years. He was only about seventeen, but his fighting style was swift and natural. His eyes held a determined glint and his punches flew fast and furious, but with such ease and effortlessness that Kitt knew that this was not the first time that he had fought off opponents.

Michael grunted as he battled his own rivals, swiftly dodging a kick and whirling around to give his attacker a bone-jarring blow in the side of the head. The man fell to the ground, dazed.

Michael's opponents could see that they were losing. They gestured to one another and climbed into their cars and hurriedly drove away.

The black-haired man was about to dive into his car to give chase when Michael stopped him with a hand clamped on his shoulder. "Wait!"

The younger man whirled around, eyes flashing. "Let go of me! We've got to make sure they don't come at us again!" he snarled.

"Cool it, man," Michael panted, struggling to keep hold of the teenager. "I don't want you to get hurt. Now, listen to me! Listen." He let go and gave the boy a glare, which he returned defiantly. "What were you doing?" Michael demanded. "Those guys could have killed you!"

The younger man shrugged. "I've dealt with worse than them," he said in a voice that held a very slight Italian accent. "I can take care of myself, so let me go after them." He turned and started for his car, but Michael caught him again.

"Wait a second, wait a second." Michael sighed and offered his hand. "Listen, I'm sorry I snapped. My name is Michael Knight, by the way."

The boy was silent for a moment as he reached out and shook Michael's hand. "Bobby."

Michael nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Bobby. Even though I would have preferred meeting you in a less violent situation." He eyed him. "You're a good fighter."

The boy ignored the praise. He just glared. "And what's that supposed to mean to me?" he snapped. "I know I fight good. I've had to. It's a part of my life now." A flicker of uneasiness flashed in the boy's eyes for a moment, and then it was gone.

It was at that moment Kitt's attention was drawn to his car, which had been sitting idly behind Bobby with the engine still running.

The Camero's engine suddenly growled as it rolled a few inches backwards. Kitt's circuits jolted in surprise. Wha…?

Hurriedly, he scanned the other car, and felt his processor freeze at what he found. No. No, oh no… He mentally shook his head to clear it, but he was unable to shake off the fear. No, this was next to impossible! But they hadn't checked the destruction site to be certain that it was totally destroyed…had some small fragment of it survived? Kitt shivered at the mere thought. He had to warn Michael.

As though it could sense his thoughts – and it probably could – the other car growled warningly, its' tone low like a large cat, and shot another few inches backwards, the entire frame shaking.

Bobby put a steadying hand on the hood of the car. "Steady, now, my friend," he murmured. It was said so quietly that Kitt could barely pick him up. Kitt thought that he looked puzzled at the reaction of the vehicle.

Michael's eyes were wide. Impulsively, Kitt scanned him. His driver's heart rate was elevated, and Kitt guessed that it wasn't just because of the fight he'd just been in. "Michael…"

He glanced over at the currently dark scanner. "What?"

"I…I think you should know something about that car," Kitt said nervously.

The Camero growled dangerously. "You stay away from us!" a dangerous, low voice hissed from the car. "Do not come near, Kitt!" The amber scanner leapt to life on Karr's prow. Kitt, in turn, flared his own red scanner.

The color drained from Michael's face. For an instant he was thrown into a brief flashback, of so many years ago.

_The black and silver Trans-Am inches from him and trying to run him over._

_Kitt arriving in the nick of time and leaping protectively in front of his driver, shielding him from the mechanic monster they faced together._

_Kitt's prototype rocketing off of the cliff and exploding as he hit the rocks._

_Kitt leaping into the air at Michael's command despite his better judgment and colliding with the black-and-silver Pontiac._

_The other car in flaming bits on the desert floor._

Michael jolted out of his trance to find that his chest was heaving. He was finding this every bit as hard to believe as Kitt was.

Karr was back.

He turned to face Bobby, who was staring at Kitt in equal shock. "An AI?" he requested softly, gesturing at the black Trans-Am.

"Yeah," Michael growled. "Now, you wanna tell me something? Who's the AI inside your car?" Even Kitt was surprised at the angry look on his face.

Bobby bristled. His eyes became slits. "You're treading dangerous ground, Mr. Knight," he said in a low tone. "That AI is my friend."

"That AI is dangerous," Michael replied, forcing himself to relax. "It's Karr, isn't it?"

Bobby nodded tightly and the Camero's engine revved in rage. If Kitt had a heart, it would have sank to the ground.

"What's it to you?" Bobby demanded.

Michael shut his eyes briefly, trying to quiet his simmering anger. "Bobby, I think you should come with me," he said quietly. "There are a few things I need to ask you."

Immediately, Bobby took a step back, towards Karr. "No way, man," he said, shaking his head. "Karr is mine. Mine alone." He laid a protective hand on the hood of the shaking black sports car. Kitt noticed that the shaking quieted slightly at Bobby's touch.

"Bobby, you don't understand –"

"I understand, all right!" Bobby snapped. All friendliness seemed to have left him. "Karr's the only one I've got left in this world. I'm not about to let you, or anyone else, take him away from me."

Karr snarled in agreement.

Kitt watched the amber scanner band snap back and forth. It was going too quickly, and Kitt sensed high emotions radiating off of the Camero. Unconsciously Kitt reached for the link between Karr's CPU and his own. If this truly was Karr, he would know.

It was.

Kitt felt Karr shrink back at the hesitant, quiet probing at the link. He was snarling viciously like a frightened, wild animal. If Kitt could have, he would have swallowed hard. Even thought he had only briefly skimmed across the link, he felt Karr's emotions like they were his own. Uncertainty. Hatred. Dread. Fear. Fear so strong that he shivered and had to step further back. And…strangest of all…was it protectiveness? To…Bobby? Kitt froze, puzzled. It was what he felt when Michael was in danger. Was it even possible that the older AI was starting to develop a conscience?

Bobby pulled open Karr's door and the two shot away like black lightning. Michael stared after them with pursed lips. Finally he sighed and turned back to Kitt.

"Should we go after them, Michael?" Kitt asked softly.

Michael frowned tightly. "No, partner. That would only drive them farther away. But he can't hide for too long. Not with Bonnie's super sleuthing skills."

"**Karr? He's back?" **Bonnie asked uneasily. Her tight ponytail waggled from side to side as she shook her head in bewilderment. "What do you mean, he's back? You destroyed him! Twice!"

"That's what I thought, too." Michael frowned at Kitt's monitor at the image of Karr and Bobby. "But it's him, I'm sure of it. Kitt's sure of it. And this kid Bobby is helping him."

"Kitt?"

"I'm certain of it, Bonnie." Kitt sounded quiet and reserved. "It's him. I don't understand it, but it is definitely him."

Bonnie sighed and plopped down in her chair. She and Michael were in the garage with Kiara and Kitt. As far as they knew, McKenna was in her room asleep. It was nearly midnight now.

A shiver ran up her back. Since Karr and the two thieves who had originally reactivated him had kidnapped her to repair a malfunctioning circuit in Karr, she'd had a deep fear of the killer machine.

Kitt ran the tapes he had of Karr and Bobby on Bonnie's laptop. Bonnie sighed. "All right. Kitt, give me a snapshot on that frame right there. I'll look a little bit more into this Bobby character and see exactly who he is."

She typed his name into her databases and they both waited for the information to come up. She nodded when it did; the data matched perfectly.

"His name is Bobby Fallon," she announced. "He is nineteen years old and from Redding."

"Redding." Michael frowned. "That's on the other side of the state."

She nodded. "He's listed here as an orphan. There's no information on his parents or family. It also doesn't mention Karr." She sighed. "No big surprise there, really. But what I don't understand is how the CPU survived all those years unattended. It's been out in the elements for years. The kid's only nineteen, so it's been out there for at least ten years."

Neither human saw Kitt wince. Only Kiara did. She carefully accessed the private channel running between their CPUs. /Kitt? Are you all right?/ she called wordlessly to him.

Kitt allowed himself a virtual sigh. /Karr is my brother, Kiara,/ he said slowly. /It's rather difficult to hear this, knowing that he's family. I know that I would not want to be left alone in the boiling sun for such a long time. Would you?/

/No,/ she admitted. /But he is dangerous, is he not?/

Kitt frowned. /I suppose I'll just have to keep reminding myself of that fact,/ he sighed.

"I'll contact a few people," Michael was muttering. "See if they've got any idea on where he might be living. We've got to find them again, Bonnie."

"What about Ethan Lowry?" Kitt asked, forcing his concern over Karr to the back of his mind.

"We'll still deal with him," Michael said in a low, determined voice. "But we can't just let Karr run loose on the streets like this!"

"You may want to be careful, Michael," Kitt warned him. "When we were with him tonight, I could feel some very strong emotions in the link between our CPUs. He's upset, but…he felt more frightened than hateful. And protective. He's very protective of Bobby. I advise extreme caution."

Michael turned to blink at the red scanner. "You two have a communications link?"

"Yes," Kitt replied quietly. "I didn't know about it until the day we destroyed Karr for the second time. He's kept it blocked, which is why I haven't detected his presence yet."

Even Bonnie looked shocked. "Why didn't you tell us before, Kitt?" she asked quietly.

"There was no need to," Kitt said. "Karr was gone."

Bonnie moaned and put her face in her hands. "I can't believe this. If you're right, Kitt, and Karr's as protective of Bobby as you say he is, then this isn't going to be an easy task."

"You've got that right," a determined voice said from the direction of the door. Michael and Bonnie turned to see McKenna, dressed in a bathrobe and glaring stubbornly at her parents. "From what I've heard, it won't be. Which is why it'll be better if I go talk to this Bobby guy instead of Dad."

Bonnie frowned. "McKenna, this is much more dangerous than it sounds," she tried.

"I'm not a child anymore!" McKenna snapped. "I can handle things on my own, if you guys will just give me a chance!"

Michael groaned inwardly as he looked at her. He knew that glint in her eye. She could mirror his own determination and stubbornness if she wanted to. In that respect, she was exactly like her father. He caught Bonnie's eye, and she glared at him, then at McKenna.

"McKenna, look at me," Bonnie said firmly. "This job is too dangerous for someone as inexperienced as you are. Let your father handle the situation, all right?"

McKenna bristled. Across the garage, Kitt held in an amused chuckle. McKenna was the most willful, headstrong, independent girl he'd ever met. Kiara would have her hands full with this one.

"If you would give me a chance, I could prove to you that I'm ready," McKenna growled. "Let me do this, just once!" Her expression changed from stubborn to pleading.

Michael and Bonnie exchanged a glance and sighed. "All right. But you're taking Kitt, and he's going to monitor you the _entire_ time. You are to come home to get us if a single thing goes wrong. Understood?"

McKenna held back a smile from bursting all over her face. "Thanks," she breathed. "I won't let you down!" Quickly she scrambled back into her room. "I'll be ready to go first thing in the morning! Thank so much!"

* * *

Sorry if that was confusing. Oh boy, Karr's back! Is Kitt right? Has he begun to change for the better? Or will the Knights find themselves trapped in Karr's new revenge? Stay tuned! :D


	9. Mystery

**McKenna stared uncertainly** into the electronics store. She lifted the comlink to her mouth. "You're sure he's in there, Kitt?" she whispered hesitantly.

"Yes." Kitt's clipped Boston accent sounded a little tinny over the comlink. She'd taken Kitt out first thing in the morning to go find Bobby Fallon, and they had located him here. "He's at the back of the store, near the video games."

McKenna rolled her eyes. "Typical boy," she grumbled. "Okay, I'm going in. You make sure to stay out of Karr's scanner range."

"Of course, McKenna," Kitt said reasonably. "That's why you parked me on the other side of the lot, isn't it?"

She grinned. "That's right, wise guy. Now, hush up. Bobby will be suspicious if he hears you."

Kitt didn't reply. McKenna took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the electronics store. The place was almost empty. Music blared from the back of the store near the televisions. On the store racks were just the normal things you'd find in an electronics store: radios, clocks, computer monitors and a small selection of movies among other things. The back wall was lined with television monitors and DVD sets. The carpeted floor was clean, she noticed as she stepped inside.

To McKenna's right, there were several racks laden with video games and CDs. A dark-haired boy was browsing the games. That must be him.

She lifted her comlink to her mouth. "Any idea how I should do this?" she whispered.

"Just act natural," Kitt suggested.

"Natural?" McKenna snorted softly. "I feel anything but natural right now!"

"So pretend," Kitt prompted her gently. "And I would advise against telling him your last name for now. He might get suspicious."

McKenna took a deep breath and walked toward the boy. She pretended to browse through the CDs on the rack behind Bobby. She glanced over at him. He'd switched to the CDs too, and the artist of the album he was looking at caught her eye. "Is that Tim McGraw?" she blurted.

He glanced up in surprise. "Yeah."

She smiled in disbelief. "He's my favorite!" That wasn't a lie, either. "Have you heard that one yet?" She gestured to the CD he was holding.

"No, not yet. Is it good?"

"The best one." She smiled. She held out her hand. "By the way, I'm McKenna."

He took her hand and nodded without returning her smile. "Bobby." He was obviously almost as uncomfortable as she was.

"So," McKenna said brightly, trying to break the pause. She desperately racked her mind for something – anything! – to focus on. Her eyes darted around the store for inspiration. "Do you listen to much country?"

But he was looking at her through narrowed eyes, and she knew with an inward groan that she was busted. "What do you want?" Bobby asked, a hint of amusement glinting in his eyes.

McKenna's hopes sank, and then flared at his half-grin. He thought she was funny! Maybe it wasn't a total loss. But she couldn't fool him anymore. She sighed good-naturedly and gave a weak smile. "No good at acting, huh?"

"Sorry, but no," the older boy chuckled. "What do you want? My CD?" He wiggled the album in the air.

She groaned and rolled her eyes, finally relaxing for the first time since stepping into the store. "Oh, don't tempt me!" she laughed. "My mom will kill me if I overspend my weekly budget again."

Bobby finally cracked a smile as he put the disc back on the shelf. "So, what is it?"

She took a deep breath. "Please, don't leave, just hear me out, okay?" she pleaded. Not giving him a chance to respond, she plowed head on. "You are the owner of the black Camero in the lot, right?"

Bobby frowned, but nodded.

"And it's Karr, isn't it?"

He nodded again, his eyes becoming ice.

"I don't want to do anything to hurt either of you, I promise!" McKenna said. "But I do need to ask you a few things."

He glared at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "First of all, why don't you tell me who you really are?"

"I'm McKenna Knight, Michael Knight's only daughter," she said slowly. "Dad said he ran into you last night?"

"Yeah. Why were those guys chasing you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Long story. Why don't we find someplace to sit down?"

Bobby glanced outside. "There's a cafeteria up the block. Why don't we go there?"

McKenna nodded. "Suits me. I can pay."

He eyed her. "What about your weekly budget?" he teased.

_This guy could be likable,_ McKenna decided. _And he _is_ cute._

"The way she sees it, this would be different from a CD," she replied, flashing him a grin.

Ten minutes later, Bobby and McKenna were seated across from one another in a booth at the Jazzbrook Café. They'd just ordered their drinks. McKenna quietly jangled the ice in her lemon lime soda while Bobby took a swig of his coffee. "Well, I guess the story kinda starts about thirty years ago, when Dad went to work for the Foundation for Law and Government, or FLAG. It is a private organization, and the parent company for Knight Industries. Knight Industries has since disbanded, but FLAG is still around."

Bobby's face darkened in anger. "You're from the Foundation for Law and Government?" His tone was little more than a growl.

She shook her head. "Not now, not anymore. My dad worked for them, a long time ago. How much of this story has Karr told you already?"

He hesitated. "Not much," he mumbled. "Karr and I made a pact to forget about the past. It's not that we don't trust one another or anything," he added quickly and defensively. "But we both find it easier to forget what doesn't matter anymore."

McKenna opened her mouth to say that she wasn't sure that was completely right, but she stopped herself just in time. This was obviously a touchy subject for Bobby, and if she dug too deep, she might find herself alone in the café.

"Okay, then, I'd better start at the beginning," she said instead. "Thirty years ago, the founder of Knight Industries, Wilton Knight, created and activated the most advanced computer known to man, and it was installed in an equally advanced car body. It was the Knight Automated Roving Robot. Karr, and it's dominant programming was self-preservation."

Bobby nodded.

"But his programming was a big mistake," McKenna said. "I don't know the whole story, but in whole, Karr hurt a few people, almost killing them. Wilton had no choice but to deactivate him and put him in storage. Six months later, my dad came to work for them, which is a long story." She grinned. "But while he was…er, _recovering_ from his previous occupation, Wilton activated the second AI to be built by FLAG. It was practically the same as Karr, except for one major difference – it's dominant program was the preservation of _human_ life. It's name is the Knight Industries Two Thousand – Kitt." She jerked her head towards the outside window. "That black Trans-Am out there." She raised her comlink. "Say hello to Bobby, Kitt!"

"Hello, Robert," Kitt said. "I believe we only met briefly last night, to say the least, so allow me to properly introduce myself."

"You don't need to," Bobby chuckled, rolling his eyes slightly. "McKenna just did. And you're as bad as Karr was when I reactivated him. He called me Robert, too. It's Bobby. Just Bobby."

"Very well then, Bobby," Kitt said amiably.

Bobby eyed McKenna. "So, Karr was a car originally, as well." He chuckled. "I only put him in the Camero because of his name. What kind of things could the original vehicle do?"

Kitt broke in again. "McKenna, as Karr and I have virtually the same capabilities, allow me."

It was McKenna's turn to roll her eyes. "If I do, we could be here all night."

Bobby spread his hands on the table, smiling. "Never mind," he chuckled. "Just tell me what you need to, McKenna. I'm listening."

"My dad became a private investigator for the Foundation and worked for them for ten years," she continued. "But only a year after he'd begun to work for them, Karr was accidentally reactivated by some thieves breaking into the warehouse. Dad and Kitt were forced to destroy him when nothing else worked, because he was a potential threat."

She could see Bobby bristling. "Just because he _could_ be a danger?" he asked angrily. "That's –"

"I don't think it's right, either," McKenna put in sadly. "There had to have been another way."

Bobby was still frowning tightly, but he nodded at her to continue.

"It was two years before Karr resurfaced. This time, from what I understand, he only wanted to get revenge on my dad and Kitt for what they did to him. And it was the same story all over again. Karr nearly killed somebody, and Dad and Kitt destroyed him again." She looked down. "Dad left FLAG twelve years after that…" She broke off. No, she wouldn't go there today. If an explanation was needed, she would tell him – in time. "So, what's your history? Where are you from, and where did you find Karr?"

Bobby swallowed hard. "I have no family," he said in a low voice. "That's all you need to know."

A million questions were buzzing in McKenna's mind. _Why? What happened to them? How do you live now? How long ago did they die?_ But she kept her mouth shut. She could see that if she asked one of those questions, she'd either get a cold stare or, worse, she could make him leave. So she waited patiently for him to continue.

"I found Karr in the desert and fixed him up," he continued, sighing with a far-off look in his eyes. "I worked on him for about a year. When he was finished, I decided to install him in my Camero that I'd gotten from a friend."

Something in the way he said that last part made McKenna suspicious, but that wasn't important right now. "And Karr let you?"

"There was some trouble at first, but we got it straightened out in the end," Bobby said vaguely. "I needed transportation, Karr needed service, and so we decided to head off together." He didn't say anything else.

Kitt broke the silence of the awkward pause that momentarily overcame their table. "McKenna, I'm afraid we have company."

McKenna glanced out the window to see the SUVs who'd been chasing them earlier. She gave a low groan. "Do these guys ever give it a rest?" she grumbled as she shot out of her chair. Bobby was hot on her heels.

"Do you need any help?" he called.

She whirled around to glare at him, making him stop short in his tracks and nearly fall over her. "No!" she snapped. "I can take care of this myself." She whirled and stomped towards the door.

"Oh, joy," Bobby muttered under his breath as he followed her. "Look! Do you have any idea what those men could do to you?"

"I've got Kitt to protect me, don't I?" she threw back over her shoulder.

"You are way too sensitive about this!" Bobby said, frustrated. "You're so set on proving yourself, you can't see whether or not you're walking straight into a trap!"

She stopped and whirled around to face him again. "What do you know about that, Mr. Smarty Pants?" she growled.

"It's pretty obvious," Bobby snapped back. "If you know anything about these guys at all –"

"I probably know more than you do!"

Suddenly McKenna was aware that everybody in the café were giving them strange looks. She felt embarrassment creep up her back, flaming bright red on her cheeks. She whirled around on her heel, marching back out to the parking lot. She'd never been so humiliated and so furious!

She stormed over to Kitt, yanked open the door, got in, and slammed it shut behind her.

"McKenna, I don't mean to insult you, but…" Kitt began awkwardly.

"Oh, no, not you too!" she groaned. "Everybody seems to want to prove that I can't do this!"

"I'm not," Kitt said gently. "But please, listen."

McKenna scowled, but nodded. "Okay."

"I don't think they're after us," Kitt pointed out. "They seem to be going after Karr instead."

Startled, McKenna glanced up to Kitt's monitor. Sure enough, the black SUVs were parking around the Camero, effectively boxing it in. Though the scanner was dark, the car was backing up. McKenna imagined the dangerous snarl of the engine.

"We've got to get over there," she gasped. "We have to warn them!" She quickly ignited Kitt's powerful engine and spun the tires getting over to the other side of the lot.

**Karr scanned the** vehicles surrounding him. He quickly calculated that he should be able to turbo boost over the one in front of him and escape to find Bobby. Then they would be able to get out of there. His massive engine growled threateningly and he revved it for the turbo boost. He'd already darkened his windows so that no one could see that Bobby wasn't inside.

It was at that moment that Kitt came into Karr's scanner range. His engine shuddered and for just an instant, he panicked. For three years, since he had been rescued by Bobby, he'd seen no sign of Kitt and Michael Knight. Then, last night they'd run into them again. He had tried to stop Bobby from helping them, but his new owner hadn't paid any heed. The people from FLAG had been after them ever since he and Bobby had broken into the headquarters, stealing one of the most valuable secrets FLAG had. Now…Kitt was back. And Karr didn't know what to do anymore.

Desperately he surged over the SUVs and in a moment he was free. He quickly scanned for Bobby and found him running out of the electronics store. He screeched to a stop and flung open the drivers' side door. "Bobby –" he began.

"I know," Bobby sighed tightly. "We've got to help McKenna over there."

Karr didn't know who McKenna was, but at the moment he could care less. "I'm scanning the Knight Two Thousand in this parking lot."

To his astonishment, Bobby nodded.

"You knew?" Karr demanded.

"I knew," Bobby said slowly. "Though not just until a few minutes ago. Kitt's driver, McKenna Knight, caught me in the store just now. She told me everything about you and Kitt." He breezed a hand over the dash sensor and felt Karr shiver. "I know now, bud," he said softly. "I'm sorry. It was an invasion of your privacy, but she was going to tell me, no matter what I did."

"What did you tell them about us?" Karr asked sharply.

"Nothing. I didn't give anything away except the facts that my family is gone and that I fixed you up. Don't worry, Karr. I won't let 'em hurt you."

Karr didn't answer.

"McKenna Knight is Kitt's driver," Bobby said as they pulled away. "She's every bit as stubborn as a bulldog. We have to stop her before she hurts herself."

"So what if she does?" Karr growled. "Anyone carrying the Knight name is an enemy to me."

"Not to me, Karr," Bobby said firmly, not at all intimidated by Karr's deep, growling voice. "I'm helping her. You don't have to if you don't want to. You stay at the sidelines."

Karr didn't hesitate before answering. "I will not let you go into danger without me."

Bobby smiled, but didn't say anything.

They roared off after McKenna. "Where is she now?" Bobby called.

"Approaching us, Bobby."

Bobby swore under his breath, and he wheeled Karr around. He rolled down the window as they approached the speeding Trans Am. "Get away!" Bobby shouted to her, hoping she would hear him over the wind.

McKenna heard, all right. She just chose to ignore it.

"I think they know about the SUVs," Kitt found it necessary to point out.

"Gee, ya think?" McKenna said dryly. "Give me their exact position."

"Approximately three yards from Karr. They're picking up speed and should collide with Karr in three seconds."

McKenna gasped. "He doesn't have the MBS either! They're going to smash him!"

Kitt lunged foreword at McKenna's signal, and they rushed at Karr, trying to warn them. But it was too late. "We're never going to make it in time, McKenna."

She swallowed hard, her eyes full of fear. Was her new friend going to end up road kill?

"Why aren't they moving, Kitt?" she gasped. "I should think that Karr would have scanned them coming towards them by now!"

At that moment, the black SUV's engine roared as it lunged towards Karr's back bumper.

To McKenna's shock, it's front end folded with a terrible crash while Karr stayed perfectly still. Smoke rose from the damaged engine of the bigger car, and when it cleared, it was clear that Karr's back end was perfectly undamaged.

Realization slammed down on her head like a sledgehammer. She gasped and gripped the wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. How on earth!

"Kitt!" she gasped. "Karr must have the MBS too! But how?"

* * *

GAH! How does Karr have the MBS? What is going on between Bobby and FLAG? The answer is...I'm not telling you yet. :D Stay tuned!


	10. A Change Of Plans

OK...well, this isn't the best piece of work I've ever written, by far, so don't judge my writing on this chapter. But there are a few very important plot twists, so read on! Don't forget to leave a review!

And the same old disclaimer: I don't own Michael, Kitt, Bonnie, Karr, or Knight Rider. Bobby, McKenna and Kiara are mine.

_Chapter Nine: Change In Plan_

**McKenna watched, dumbfounded,** as Karr started up and drove away as fast as he could, tires squealing. She pressed Kitt's gas pedal. "Let's go after 'em!"

Kitt charged through the streets after the fleeing Camero. Bobby and Karr led McKenna and Kitt on a twisting course, and McKenna was having a hard time keeping control of the car.

"Why don't you let me drive?" Kitt suggested.

"Thanks," McKenna panted, throwing her hands up in the air as she heard the beep that signified that Kitt had switched into 'Auto Cruise'. Instantly she was propelled to the back of her seat by the sheer force of gravity as Kitt surged faster.

McKenna frowned as they swerved through the roads, breaking every speed limit and running every red light. Bobby was a really good driver, and she was glad that Kitt was experienced at this sort of thing. She told him so. "I'm sure glad you're here."

"Likewise," Kitt sighed as he worked his way through a particularly difficult turn.

McKenna gave the dash a halfhearted glare.

When Bobby finally pulled over, Kitt came to a stop next to him. McKenna got out and stormed over to Bobby, who had also gotten out and was looking as though he were dreading facing her.

"Your car has the MBS!" she exploded as they came face-to-face.

He drew in a deep breath. "Yes," he said slowly and carefully.

She narrowed her eyes. "How?" she asked in a sharp tone.

Bobby didn't bat an eyelash as he replied, "Karr told me where to find it."

Her jaw dropped to the floor. "You stole the formula for the molecular bonded shell?" she asked carefully.

He nodded coolly, his eyes no more than slits.

"Then the Foundation doesn't have the formula right now, after all."

He glared at her, but didn't say another word.

McKenna didn't need him to explain anything. Her mind was whirling with answers to everything. "That's how you know so much about those guys. You're on the run from them, too! And when you met up with Dad that night near the Knight Mansion were you going back for more, or what?" she demanded. "Tell me, Bobby!"

Bobby gave a ghost of an amused smile at the furious teenager who was ordering him around like she was his mother, and then he spoke calmly. "We were going back to the Knight Mansion to replace the stolen formula. We didn't need it anymore. Karr here wanted the MBS for protection."

Karr rumbled. "You agreed, Bobby," he gruffly reminded his driver.

"Shut up."

"So, wait," McKenna said softly. "Ethan Lowry is after you for stealing the MBS. He's after _us_ for stealing Kitt. And we also need the MBS formula." She stared at him, a sparkle lighting in her eyes.

Bobby noticed it, and he immediately looked suspicious. "I'm not sure if I like this," he stated.

"Bobby…" she began sweetly. "Could you do us a favor?"

He rolled his eyes.

**McKenna cheerfully rang** the doorbell and heard it echo through the house. Normally she would've just taken Bobby through the garage, but she wasn't sure how wise that would be now that Kiara was in there.

Bonnie appeared on the stairs near the large glass window near the door as Leya began to bark. She hesitated when she saw Bobby, and McKenna waved cheerfully at her mother.

Bonnie quickly opened the door for them, and after McKenna had introduced Bobby to her and Leya had given her enthusiastic approval of Bobby with a rather slobbery kiss, McKenna took Bobby downstairs to the basement where Michael was working. "Dad? You in here?"

"Over here, hon."

They tromped over to the back of the basement, where Michael was working on Bonnie's computer.

"What are you doing?" McKenna asked.

"Oh, just something your mother wanted me to work on for a while," he explained, standing up and offering his hand. "Hi, Bobby. How are you?"

"Fine, I think." He glared sidelong at McKenna, giving half a grin. She smiled innocently back.

Michael rolled his eyes. "She's done it again, has she?" he chuckled. "Why don't you take a seat, Bobby? McKenna, could you take these up to your mother's desk?" He handed her two computer chips.

She nodded. "Sure." Quickly she backed away as the men began talking, and then hurried up the stairs. She walked through the kitchen, dropped off the chips on Bonnie's desk, and then wandered back through the kitchen and past the basement door to the attached garage.

McKenna pushed open the door and strolled inside. She glanced around, even though she knew every nook and cranny in the place.

The two-car garage was small, but cozy. A little television set sat on a shelf in the back left corner, and Bonnie's computer equipment lined the left wall. Their fishing and camping gear that usually took up half of the garage had been stuffed in the attic, and Kiara was parked in its' place. Kitt was in the spot where they usually parked their Jeep, which was currently outside in the driveway. Other than the computer equipment and the two high-tech cars sitting in it, it looked like a normal two-car garage.

She walked over to Kiara and opened the door to the Mustang. Kiara let her in, and McKenna lounged across the seats. She beamed. "Sometimes it's still a little hard to believe you're mine," she commented.

"Well, I am an extremely advanced vehicle," Kiara said. "I am six point two years ahead of what the general public is accustomed to."

McKenna laughed. "Well, jeez, don't be too modest about it or anything," she teased.

"I am not being immodest. I am simply stating the facts. There's a difference."

"Some people might say there is."

"They are entitled to their opinion," Kiara said mischievously. "I am entitled to mine. And if that's how they think, I prefer my own beliefs."

She burst into laughter. "Has anyone ever told you that you're arrogant?"

"No."

"You're arrogant."

"Now they have."

McKenna giggled. Then she sighed, still smiling at the dashboard. "Wonder why my parents never told me that they worked with AIs," she murmured, half to herself. "I would've loved to hear all of their stories."

Kitt chimed in from the other side of the garage. "I can tell you," he volunteered.

McKenna brightened. "Could you? Thanks!" She flopped back in the seat, looking expectantly at Kitt. "What was the best, biggest mission you guys went on?"

"Oh, goodness," Kitt laughed. "I'm not sure if there was one 'biggest' mission. They were all important. But I know one that you'll like, since you have a horse. Michael and I once knew a young lady named Maxine. I think you would have liked her, McKenna. She owned a racehorse named King Jack, but Max's partner faked King Jack's death because…"

For an hour, McKenna sat, fascinated, listening to Kitt's stories about times past. She asked some questions here and there, but Kitt was a good storyteller and didn't leave much out.

"…After that, Bonnie found the missing little girl, and she was reunited with her mother," Kitt finished his fourth story. "It was a happy ending, but unfortunately, Chuck Wallyburton didn't leave. He was handling the case for the Feds." A note of disgust entered Kitt's voice. "I hope to never cross paths with him again."

McKenna laughed. "I don't know if I should feel more sorry for you or for Chuck!" she said. "I can't believe you seat ejected him like that." Under her breath, she added, "Little buddy."

"Wouldn't you seat eject a man who wouldn't stop calling you that horrendous nickname?" Kitt countered good-humoredly.

"Absolutely," she said cheerfully.

They were interrupted by a door swinging open and closed. McKenna glanced out the open door to the driveway, and saw Bobby walking down the steps towards where Karr was waiting.

"Hey!" she called, scrambling out after him.

Bobby turned to wait for her. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and his expression was unreadable.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked, stopping in front of him.

"Fine," he answered, nodding curtly as he pulled open the Camero's door. But before he got in, he paused and eyed Kiara. "Is that the other AI you were talking about?"

McKenna smiled proudly and stood a few inches taller. "Meet Kiara, the Knight Industries Advanced Roving Automation."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Fallon," Kiara said politely.

Bobby gave a hint of a wry grin. "Just Bobby." He shot McKenna a glance. "I'll be back with the MBS formula tomorrow. I'll see you then."

She shrugged and nodded. "Right. See you." She watched Bobby drive away, sighed, and went back to the house. She played Kitt's stories over and over again in her head. They were so full of action, full of danger and adventure and suspense. She loved it! Putting everything at stake for the sake of doing what was right, to make the world a better place. To make a difference in the world. She couldn't think of anything better to do with your life.

She was more determined than ever to do this.

McKenna skipped inside to see her parents at the dining table. Bonnie was sipping a cup of coffee and Michael was staring into space, thinking hard about something.

"So Bobby's coming back tomorrow?" she asked curiously.

Bonnie glanced up. "Mm-hmm. He's willing to give us the MBS formula for Kiara, luckily."

"Awesome!"

Michael spoke up, never taking his eyes off of the imaginary point on the wall behind McKenna. "I still don't know if she should be doing this, Bon," he sighed, as though McKenna wasn't even there. "It could be dangerous."

McKenna forced herself to stay calm. "I can do it," she said evenly. "I'm not a little girl anymore."

"But that's just it." Both Bonnie and McKenna jumped as he rose his voice slightly. "You're too young to do this. I don't know why I agreed to this in the first place." He stood up and began to pace angrily. "Do you have any idea what kind of danger we're putting ourselves into, McKenna?"

She met his angry stare with a hard gaze. "I do," she said firmly. "You aren't working on the Lowry case while you're trying to figure Bobby out. Kiara and I are ready. We have gone over all of the possibilities several times."

"And yet you still want to help."

"Absolutely." She stared at him as he shook his head and turned his back on her. Her jaw dropped and her arms sagged at her sides, but a fire sparked in her clear blue eyes. "You don't think I can do it, do you?" she demanded. "You really don't think I can!"

Michael rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache, not turning to look at his family.

"You've spent your whole life driving across the country to help other people who need help," she continued furiously. "It's all you've ever known and you think you know everything. You know that you belong out there, working for the greater good. So why can't I? I don't belong anywhere. You haven't even thought about finding out what happened to your _own partner_ because you're too caught up in personal problems!" Even she was shocked at her own words, but they came spilling out faster than she could stop them.

Michael suddenly spun to face her, and even McKenna flinched. She'd _never_ seen him look so angry. "Kitt and I are working on it, McKenna," he snapped. "And if you don't belong anywhere, what makes you so certain that you belong here? Maybe you don't, McKenna! It's too dangerous for a girl!" He punctuated each word with a wave of his hand.

McKenna froze, stung deeply. For a moment, all she could do was stare at her father in shock, and for a moment a heavy silence hung over the room. Everyone was too stunned to speak.

Then McKenna turned and fled. Michael and Bonnie listened to her footsteps echoing down the stairs, and then they heard a door slamming.

Michael stared into the doorway where she had disappeared, unable to believe what he had just said. He frowned, silently beating himself up for saying that. He shook his head and closed his eyes for a few moments. "Bonnie, I'm sorry…"

Bonnie stood up, pushing her chair out behind her. He looked up to see her eyes blazing in anger. "Why are you apologizing to me?" she hissed. "Do you have any idea how much you just hurt her?"

Michael blinked. "I –"

She didn't give him a chance to finish. "Since she was a little girl, she's wanted to be like you, Michael," she growled. "But she's sixteen now. She's not helpless anymore. Why is it so hard for you to understand that? Get it through your thick head that McKenna is exactly like you. And don't you dare stop her from living a dream." With that, she spun on her heel and marched down the hallway, towards the bedrooms. In a moment there was, again, the sound of a door slamming. Michael was alone in the room.

Leya had been dozing on the couch a few feet away, but now she scrambled to her feet and nudged her nose under Michael's hand, whining.

Michael crouched down and petted the puppy's ginger neck fur, ducking away from her wet kisses. "What've I done now, Leya?" he murmured.

**When McKenna heard** the garage door creak open on its' rusty hinges, she buried herself in her face in her arms. She knew who it would be.

Sure enough, Bonnie soon tapped on Kiara's door. Inside, McKenna was curled up against the dashboard, trying to quieten her anger.

"Shall I open the door, McKenna?" Kiara asked softly.

"Sure." She wiped at her eyes.

The door whirred open, and Bonnie leaned into the cabin. She ran a hand through McKenna's long hair. "I'm sorry…"

She swatted Bonnie's hand away angrily. "Who gave him the right to tell me where I do or don't belong?" she growled. "He's always known where he belongs. He doesn't know anything about feeling like you don't fit in anywhere. The girls at school think I'm weird because I like horses and cars. The only people at the barn are grown-ups, and they sure don't seem to think that I belong on a horse. And they're right." She stared angrily out the window. "I'm a total failure."

Bonnie looked at her, studying her carefully as though looking at her for the first time. "You know that isn't true. You're a bright, talented, wonderful young girl and there's so much you can do."

"But not enough."

There was a moment of silence in the garage, and the only sound to be heard was the soft, refined whir of Kiara's scanner. McKenna leaned her head on the modified steering wheel, frowning. "Kiara is the only one who understands me," she muttered. "She's the only one who knows who I am. I'm not a girl anymore. I can stand up for myself."

The scanner made a soft, gentle purring sound, as though Kiara was trying to comfort her unhappy driver.

"He's too busy trying to find out more about Karr to even think about Ethan Lowry," she grumbled.

"Honey, that's not true –"

"Yes it is!" she exploded. "It's like he doesn't even care about Kitt anymore! Kitt was hurt, badly, and he acts like he could care less whether or not we find out what happened to him. Dad's too caught up in his own problems to even _care_ about what happened when Kitt was deactivated!" she shouted. "If he would just give me a chance, I can help! _I_ can find out what happened between them if you'll just _let_ me!"

A heavy silence hung in the garage for a couple moments after McKenna's outburst. Embarrassed, McKenna turned away from Bonnie.

"We've never really told you Michael's story, have we?" Bonnie asked softly.

McKenna wiped at her nose. "He was chosen by Wilton Knight to drive Kitt and fight crimes all over the country. Right?"

She took a deep breath. "I think you're old enough to understand now," she said softly. "It's a bit more complex than that."

Kitt watched quietly from the other side of the garage, waiting and listening. He knew the story by heart.

"You know that before he began working for FLAG, he was a cop," Bonnie began.

She nodded.

"His name wasn't always Michael Knight," she explained. "Back when he worked for the police, he was known as Michael Long."

McKenna's eyes whipped around to stare at her, startled.

"A woman named Tanya Walker shot Michael Long in the face. Lucky for him, Wilton Knight found him unconscious on a lonely desert highway, barely alive." Now Bonnie's words spilled out as though she couldn't stop them. "He gave Michael a new face, a new name, and a new life while Michael Long was declared dead."

"But what about his family?" McKenna blurted. "What about his parents? Did they think he was dead, too?"

"Yes," Bonnie said slowly. "Michael couldn't tell anybody about his former life. Not even his family. Only Devon and I, and of course, Kitt, knew about Michael Long."

"But then how did he become Michael Knight?"

"He took on Wilton's last name after Wilton died." Bonnie sighed deeply. "You can imagine that the transition was extremely difficult for him. In fact, he never would have even survived if it hadn't been for Kitt." A fond smile played across her face. "He saved Michael's life in more way than one. He wouldn't ever admit it, but I believe Kitt gave him someone to hold onto, someone to trust when it seemed to him that nobody could ever be trusted again. Kitt saved him when he brought Michael to a hospital when he nearly bled to death avenging Michael Long. Those two have been in more tight situations than there are hours in a day, but they've been lucky. They've always made it through." She looked McKenna square in the eye. "He just doesn't want you to be hurt, McKenna," she said gently. "He doesn't want anything like that to happen to you, his only daughter. Can't you understand that?"

She frowned and turned away. She crossed her arms on Kiara's dashboard and buried her face in them. "No," she said simply.

Bonnie sighed. For a long moment she rubbed her daughter's back, and then she went inside, leaving her daughter curled up in Kiara's cabin. She waited a few minutes as tears made streaks down her cheeks and down the wheel, where they were falling.

Her mind was whirling. She was angry. Angry at both of her parents for keeping such a secret from her for all of those years. Angry at Michael for not caring more about Kitt and for not letting her be herself. Angry at Bobby and Karr for showing up to distract them from what needed to be done. Angry at the world for throwing her into such a situation.

She took in the slightly futuristic dashboard and the comforting lights. Kiara's dashboard wasn't as fancy as Kitt's, with some of the functions being voice-activated, but it still looked like some sort of spaceship straight out of Star Wars. This was where she needed to be. Suddenly she knew what she needed to do.

"McKenna?" Kiara asked softly. "What are we going to do?"

"Mom gave you the okay," McKenna said, forcing her tone to be level. "We're going in to see what happened to Kitt. If Dad doesn't care enough to get it done, we'll do it for him." While she spoke, she was strapping her seatbelt on. She grabbed the keys from the passenger seat and shoved them in the ignition.

Kiara paused as the engine thrummed to life. "Are you sure that this is a wise choice?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes," McKenna said evenly. Kiara didn't say anything more, and McKenna was grateful for that.

She glanced back at the house one last time. She glared. "I'll show you that I belong," she whispered under her breath.

Then she gunned the engine and she and Kiara tore up the road.


	11. McKenna's Moment

Whoot! New chapter! Getting closer to the big action parts...I already have the next chapter written out, so hopefully it won't be too long before I get it out. (I actually meant to publish this chapter yesterday, but time got away from me.) Anyway, enjoy and don't forget to review!

DISCLAIMER: Knight Rider does not belong to me. Only McKenna and Kiara (and I guess the villains) do.

* * *

**Kitt watched the** Mustang speed down the road from his spot just outside the garage. He wondered if he should tell Michael that they were leaving. But he decided against it. They needed a bit of time to themselves, and Kiara would contact him if something went wrong.

He'd heard the entire conversation between Bonnie and McKenna. He couldn't blame her for being angry, but something that she's said stung him right down to his very core.

"_It's like he doesn't even care about Kitt anymore! Kitt was hurt, badly, and he acts like he could care less whether or not we find out what happened to him. Dad's too caught up in his own problems to even care about what happened when Kitt was deactivated!"_

With all of the excitement over Karr, he'd nearly forgotten that he and Michael weren't on the best of terms lately. But now…

He made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a moan. McKenna's words had been spoken in anger, Kitt knew. It wasn't what she truly believed. They both trusted Michael. She was only angry. They both had been. The idea that Michael would actually do such a thing to him suddenly struck him as outrageous. Absolutely, unbelievably, absurdly ridiculous.

After scanning briefly to make sure that everything was the way it was supposed to be, Kitt relaxed for the first time since his reactivation.

**Meanwhile, McKenna stared** hesitantly at the lonely road ahead of them. "How much further 'till we reach the mansion?" she called up uneasily.

Kiara gave her an overview of the area on the dashboard monitor. "We're five miles from our destination, McKenna," she reported. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go in there, and I'm going to find out what happened to Kitt," she said firmly. "Have any idea where I should start?"

A map of the buildings showed up on Kiara's monitor, with two flashing yellow dots. One was laid over a room in the mansion, and one was over a building across from it. "You might try the file room on the third floor," Kiara suggested, highlighting each area as she spoke. "I believe that would be your best bet."

McKenna swallowed hard. "Okay."

By the time they reached the mansion, twilight was beginning to color the sky. McKenna glanced up at the huge building. "Geeze. How am I supposed to get up to the third floor without being spotted?"

"If I may suggest, you could use my seat eject system," Kiara offered.

"What's that?"

"It functions as it sounds. I simply set it for the correct weight, and then you press the right or left eject button on my dashboard. Whatever was in the seat will go out the sunroof that Bonnie specially designed to use in coordination with this function. I would aim right for the balcony there."

"Oh. Okay, that works! Um…so I just press it?"

"You may want to stand up." The glass sunroof slid backwards. Looking up, McKenna saw that, in fact, the sunroof _was _different. It stretched across the roof of the car, exactly the width of the side windows. Basically, it was like a t-top in one single piece. McKenna watched as the glass was raised in the air, and then gracefully slid backwards to rest on the roof of the car.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath as she un-strapped herself from the seatbelt and stood in the plush seat. "Here goes nothing. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck," Kiara said cheerfully. "Now on the count of three, jump. One…two…three."

McKenna jumped, and felt the seat propel her upwards. There was the terrifying sensation of flying through the air for a few seconds before she landed safely on the balcony. She gasped and grabbed onto the railing for balance.

"Are you all right?" Kiara called up.

McKenna called back in a whisper just loud enough for the AI to hear. "Yeah, I'm fine! Thanks for the lift!"

"You're very welcome," Kiara replied. "And be careful!"

She nodded to show that she'd heard, and then disappeared into the mansion. She didn't like just having to leave Kiara behind, but the comlink still wasn't functional. She wouldn't have any way to contact her only safety. Suddenly she began to have doubts about doing this…

She shook her head. This was no time for doubts and there was no going back now, anyway. She had a mission to accomplish.

McKenna crept down the brightly lit hallways, hiding in corners whenever someone went by and looking at the name of every room as she went past. She _had_ to find the file room.

After what seemed like forever, she found it. Quickly she darted inside, and shut the door behind her.

McKenna turned and glanced around. The place was filled with file cabinets. How on earth did Kiara expect her to find anything in this junk heap? She didn't even know where to start looking!

_Come on, Knight, think._

She should look for a file with Kitt's name. That only made sense. So now she just had to find the K section, and she'd have a start.

She couldn't believe what she was trying to do. She was insane.

McKenna scanned the filing cabinets until she found the 'K' files. Quickly she pulled at the handle and was relieved when it wasn't locked, for whatever reason. She didn't care. All she knew was that she was almost home free.

"Kitt, Kitt, K.I.T.T., K.I.T.T…" she muttered to herself over and over again as she searched. Then her eyes skirted over the familiar name. Quickly, she yanked out the document and flipped through it. Much to her frustration, there was nothing in there but names of missions he and Michael had gone on, some schematics, and so on and so forth. Realizing that this was a dead end, she shoved the paper back in its' place in frustration. Darn! She could barely keep herself from slamming the file cabinet closed for fear of alerting someone.

Okay. Plan B. What was plan B? Ugh, why hadn't she planned this better?

_Because you were mad and not thinking straight and you were insane to come here in the first place,_ a little voice spoke up in her head.

_Oh, shut up._ McKenna turned and began to walk in frustration back to Kiara when a new voice spoke to her. "Don't give up so easily, McKenna," it urged her. The voice was deep and scratchy, as though it belonged to someone very old.

McKenna froze, panicking. She spun around. "Who's there?" she demanded, willing the fear not to show through her voice. She let her eyes burn through the file room, seeking out any hiding places in there. But she was alone.

An eerie chill went up her spine.

Then it spoke again, so softly it was as if it were whispering in her ear. "There is more than one path to the answers you're looking for." She felt warm breath whisper across her face. She spun around, and found nobody there.

All right, now she was _really_ going crazy.

What had the voice meant, anyway? More than one path? What was that supposed to mean?

Suddenly an image flashed in her mind. That day she'd found Kitt, when Lowry had tried to blow them up, Kitt had shown them the two thugs who were responsible for carrying out Lowry's dirty work. She could hear Kitt's voice as clear as if it had been yesterday.

"_Their names are Mack Payne and Corby Grant, two arms dealers who run a weaponry store approximately fifty miles North from here."_

McKenna gasped. That was it. Suddenly she knew what to do.

In fifteen minutes flat she was back at Kiara's side, rushing into the cabin as the door whirred open for her. "Kiara, can you give me the name and the location of a weaponry store fifty miles north of here run by Corby Grant and Mack Payne?"

"Yes, McKenna," Kiara answered smoothly. "It is called Halstead Gun Dealers on Halstead Street in Northville."

"Is it open right now?"

"No. They're usually open this time of day, but not today."

McKenna snorted. "If Kitt's right and those really are the guys who do all of Lowry's dirty work for him, that's no surprise. We've got to get over there, Kiara. I've got a feeling that we're going to find some answers there."

"Did you find anything in the file room?" Kiara persisted as they roared off of FLAG grounds.

"No." McKenna hesitated. "Not really, anyway. Give me a minute to think this over, all right?"

"All right." Kiara fell silent.

The Mustang weaved expertly though the streets until they reached Halstead Gun Dealers. McKenna looked warily at the small, grimy building. "I don't think I'd go in there if I were a rat!" she declared.

Kiara sounded somewhere between relieved and alarmed. "Does that mean you're not going to finish this mission? I hate to think of what Kitt would say to me if he found out we'd been doing this."

McKenna rolled her eyes. "Fathers. They're all the same. Don't worry, Kia, we're gonna come back with such valuable information that they'll wish they had sent us out earlier!"

"Kia?" She sounded puzzled.

McKenna giggled. "It's a nickname. Ya know. Kia, Kiara…"

"Whatever you say," Kiara sighed. If Kiara were human, McKenna was pretty sure that she would be shrugging.

She gave Kiara a friendly tap on the dashboard. "See you later. Call me if there's trouble." She left Kiara's engine idling as she stepped out and tried the door. Locked.

She glanced over her shoulder "Can you open this thing for me?"

"With pleasure. One moment, please."

After a few seconds, the door clicked. McKenna pulled it open and stepped into the room, wrinkling her nose at the stench of gunpowder. "It stinks of gunpowder in here," she complained.

"Then you can rest assured that it's really a gun store and not some sort of cover-up," Kiara called calmly from outside.

"What, were you worried it was?"

"I am a computer. I don't get worried."

McKenna snorted in amusement, remembering hearing about how Kitt used to deny the fact that he had feelings. "That's what they all say," she teased. "Now, help me out here. Scan the area for anything that looks suspicious, or that might be of use." She tripped over a folded up edge of the carpet. "Blast," she muttered softly.

"Everything that I'm scanning seems quite normal," Kiara announced from outside. "The shelves are filled with the standard items for a store specializing in guns." She began to list the different items the store sold, but McKenna interrupted quickly.

"Ah, that's great, but I don't have the faintest clue as to what you're saying. Could we get back to the point, please?"

"Of course. The one thing that you may want to be aware of is the locked fireproof cabinet behind the counter."

McKenna raised her eyebrows. "Now we're getting somewhere!" She slipped behind the counter and instantly spotted the cabinet. She tried to open it; it was locked. She turned her head to call over her shoulder in a stage whisper, knowing that Kiara would hear her. "Open sesame, please."

A click told her that the cabinet was open, and she thanked Kiara before gently sliding the cabinet open. Her eyes widened. "Jackpot," she whispered as she lifted up a document. On the top were four letters: K.I.T.T.

She hurriedly flipped through the document. Her heart leapt with delight when she saw the only line she needed to see:

_K.I.T.T. Deactivated 11:53 PM, December 28__th__, 1990. FLAG Test Garage. _At the bottom of the page was a signature. McKenna barely needed to glance at it to know who had signed it: Ethan Lowry._  
_

McKenna shivered with excitement. "Kiara! I got it! Can you scan the thing, or take a photo of it, or something?"

"Already done," Kiara replied. "And McKenna, if I were you, I'd think about getting out of there."

Her heart thudded. "Why? What's wrong?"

"There is a red station wagon preparing to pull into the parking lot and it's traveling at high speeds. I'll hold them off as long as I can, but you'd better hurry!"

"Okay, okay." McKenna shoved the documents back into the cabinet and slammed it closed. As she was turning, something sitting on the floor beside the cabinet caught her eye. It looked like a large, fancy radio with microphones and a keyboard. She frowned; it definitely looked suspicious. She wondered fleetingly if she'd have time to drag it out to Kiara before they made their escape, but then her ears picked up the sounds of car doors slamming and male voices shouting.

"McKenna!" Kiara shouted. "Run!"

She had to get out of there, _fast_. There was no time left.

She whirled around and tried to run, but was forced to balk when she faced something large, dark and solid. Her scream was cut short as a man grabbed her and wrapped a hand around her mouth.

She could hear another man outside, and Kiara's panicky revving, the growl of the engine wobbling and stuttering as she tried to scan for McKenna.

McKenna tried to free one of her hands to hit her captor, but he held her down tightly. "What're you doin', girly?" he snarled. "Huh? Whatcha up to in here?"

"Let go of me!" she spat.

Her sensed dazed by the shock of being captured, McKenna only barely felt him wrangling her toward the parking lot until they stumbled into the sunlight. Wrenching her head around, away from the man's grip, she saw Corby Grant trying to block Kiara from them. "Hurry, Mack!" Corby snapped.

"McKenna, hang on!" Kiara cried as the man shoved a struggling McKenna towards his station wagon.

She whirled around, digging her heels into the pavement. "Get help!" she screeched. "Don't follow me, whatever you do! Get Dad and Kitt!"

Kiara could do nothing but watch helplessly in horror as the two thugs shoved McKenna into their station wagon and tore off, away from the parking lot. Kiara wanted so badly to follow them, but she had to obey McKenna's orders.

She desperately sent out a distress signal, only able to pray someone saw it before it was too late.


	12. A Risky Plan

Sheeeeesh! This is a MUCH longer chapter than I usually write! I had to cram a lot in here, and I was trying NOT to go for a cliffhanger this time. (It was difficult, though, because of the intense situation. Sorry, XxHelixRiderxX!)

Anyway, enjoy, and as always, please review! :-)

I think ya'll know that Knight Rider does not belong to me. But I'll stick the disclaimer in here anyway: The only characters that belong to me are McKenna, Bobby and Kiara! Thanks!

* * *

_A Risky Plan  
_

**The sky was** getting dark and the night insects were starting to chirp when Bonnie opened the front door to let Leya out. The pup trotted happily out the door and down the steps, onto the grass. Bonnie was about to go back inside when she saw Michael, leaning over the porch railing and a faraway look in his eyes.

She sighed and walked over to stand beside him. "McKenna and Kiara gone?" she asked.

He gave her a startled look. "How did you know that?"

Bonnie chuckled softly. "She is just as easy to predict as you are," she teased him. Then her voice softened. "She's so much like you." She leaned against his shoulder.

"Exactly," Michael protested, glancing down at her. "I don't want her growing up and risking her life every day when she goes to work. I don't want anything to happen to her."

"I don't think we have anything to worry about with McKenna," Bonnie said gently. "She's not a child anymore. She's a young woman, and she's strong and independent. You can't watch over her every day like she can't take care of herself."

"I just want to keep her safe."

"She can keep herself safe." Bonnie tipped her head affectionately against his chest, and then turned to go back inside. "She's you. And I'm sure that means she can take care of herself."

Michael glanced backwards, not turning his head, as the door quietly opened and closed. Then he swore softly to himself. Worries weighted on his mind like lead. McKenna and Kiara had gone out without permission, Bonnie was barely speaking to him, Kitt was beginning to doubt his trust, and to put the icing on the cake, Karr was back.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Bobby had put up a good, reasonable argument.

"I'm not gonna pry or anything," Michael had said. "Your life is your own business. But Karr is dangerous, whether you like it or not. He has threatened to kill people before."

Bobby hadn't batted an eyelash. "He's never killed a human in his life," he'd said flatly.

"That might be true, but he is more than capable of doing so."

"So am I. So are you. So are those other two AIs sitting out there in your driveway."

"That's different."

"Not much."

"They're programmed not to kill, Bobby," he had said firmly. "Karr is. Now, I may not know Karr like you do…but I do know that he tried to kill me twice. Twice. Karr is _programmed_ to _take life_ if it means he will survive."

Bobby had looked at him for a long moment. Then he'd leaned foreword. "Let me tell you our side of the story," he said softly. "You're right, he's programmed to survive at all costs. But do you really think he's had it all that easy? Wouldn't you want to kill someone who killed you, twice?"

That one had hit home. Michael winced. When he'd first become Michael Knight, he'd been determined to get revenge on Tanya Walker, the woman who had shot him in the face on that lonely Nevada highway. The one responsible for his life as Michael Knight. He actually had a lot to thank Tanya Walker for, he suddenly realized. Had it not been for Tanya shooting Michael Long's face, he never would have met Kitt, never would have met Devon, never would have married Bonnie, never would have had McKenna. He held in a dark chuckle. Life certainly had some strange twists in it.

True, he'd been bound and determined to either get Tanya behind bars or to kill her. Difficult as it may be to connect those feelings to Karr, he had a nagging feeling towards the dangerous AI…

Sympathy?

After a long moment, he looked over to the driveway. Half of a smile tugged at his mouth when he saw Kitt's dashboard monitor lit up in a game of virtual chess. He swung off the porch and strolled over to his old friend.

"You must be bored if you're playing against yourself," he called teasingly as he approached the black car. "Want a game partner?"

Kitt's scanner flared to life. "Would I ever say no?" The door whirred open in an invitation.

Michael gratefully sank into the drivers' seat. "Our usual colors?" he asked.

"Black for me, red for you," Kitt confirmed, a hint of a smile in his voice.

"As always," Michael chuckled. He pointed to a space on the monitor/game board. "Move my knight there," he decided. Kitt slid the knight into place.

Kitt absently placed his own pawn on one of his black spots, and then watched quietly as Michael played his move. When Michael got his king onto Kitt's side two minutes into the game, he paused. "Save the game and close it, Kitt."

Kitt obeyed, rather hesitantly. "Is something wrong?"

Michael shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me. There's something bothering you."

"Michael, nothing's bothering me."

"Then why did you let me beat you?"

"I did no such thing."

"C'mon, Kitt!" Michael tried to laugh. "The last time I beat anyone at chess, I was…well, let's just say it was before I met you."

The red bars in Kitt's voice box jumped to reply, but then he paused and the lights dimmed without saying a word.

When Kitt didn't reply, Michael sighed again. "I thought so. Listen, I think it's about time we had a little heart-to-heart about this."

He swore he felt the car frame shift nervously.

"Kitt, I'm sorry I left you," Michael said softly. "Believe me, had I known what they did to you, that you were still alive, I would have done anything to get you back."

The AI hesitated. "Yes, Michael," he mumbled.

"Now, you listen to me," Michael chastised in the same soft voice. "I would never, ever, wish that on you. Do you honestly think that I had something to do with it, Kitt?"

"You left me." Kitt's voice was quiet, but the hurt still showed through. "I was helpless, and you didn't come to help me."

"Buddy, I didn't know," Michael said softly, wincing. "Please forgive me?"

There was a long hesitation. Then Kitt spoke up in a miserable voice. "Oh, Michael, there's got to be another explanation for all this. I know what I heard but I can't blame you for it. I trust you. I'll always trust you." He sighed. "I just wish there was some way to explain it! It's so frustrating, Michael. I feel so helpless."

"I don't have any more control than you do, pal, believe me. If I did…"

Suddenly his attention focused and sharpened on a signal he was getting from not far away. Kiara. "Something's wrong, Michael."

He frowned. "Wrong, how?"

"It's Kiara. She's sending out a distress signal."

Michael chewed his lip and tapped Kitt's dash, signaling him to start the engine. "Where are they?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Something akin to Kitt's heart sank when he located where the signal was coming from. "Their signal is flagging from Halstead Gun Dealers," he said in alarm. "Michael, that's the shop that those two thugs who tried to kill us own!"

Michael swore under his breath and gunned the engine. "Give me a readout on how to get there."

Kitt obeyed. "I'll contact Kiara to see what happened," he went on.

"Give me an ETA."

"Approximately thirty minutes, pursuit mode."

Michael gave a frustrated huff.

"However," Kitt continued, a hint of mischief in his tone making Michael glance down suspiciously at the dash. "I haven't used my super pursuit mode since my deactivation, and I believe this is a prime time to do so. It would cut our ETA down to fifteen minutes."

Michael nodded tightly. "All right, let's hit it, partner."

Kitt shivered in eager anticipation as he exposed the concealed control panel where the SPM button was hidden. Michael pressed the green button, and Kitt happily braced himself. He loved speed.

The passive laser restraint system activated, and then the dusty SPM gears whirred to life. The fins slid out, some easily and some more stiffly after sitting idle for years, and the boosters fired up.

Gravity flung Michael back against the seat as Kitt stretched out into a full run, his speedometer clicking quickly to 280, then to 300. Kitt instantly felt the stiffness easing away from his underused systems, and he suppressed a shiver of delight. His systems weren't moving effortlessly, of course, after doing nothing but collecting dust for the past twenty years, but as Kitt plunged into the wind they smoothed out and began working effortlessly again. Kitt felt like never slowing down.

"Michael, I feel better than I have in days!" Kitt declared happily. "Perhaps I needed to get out like this again."

"Yeah," Michael sighed grimly. "If only it wasn't under these circumstances."

Kitt cringed, ashamed at himself for having such frivolous thoughts. "Of course," he mumbled.

"I'm going to contact Kiara now," he decided quickly, and he opened the channel between his CPU and Kiara's. He was greeted by a nervous AI that was Kiara.

/Kitt!/ Kiara said in relief. /Thank goodness it's you. They've taken her! Oh, I _knew_ it was going to happen, but it was useless to try and stop her./

/What happened?/ Kitt asked practically.

Kiara relayed everything that had happened. Kitt listened in concern, asked a few questions, and then thanked her.

/Everything will be all right, you'll see,/ he said firmly. /We'll find her, I promise. Okay?/

/Yes. I'm sorry./

/It's all right./ Kitt brushed against her gently before bringing himself back from the link to tell Michael. "Kiara's told me that McKenna has been kidnapped by Mack Payne and Corby Grant at the gun dealership, and then was taken away in a red station wagon. Kiara tracked them until they were out of scanner range. They were headed due South."

"Towards FLAG," Michael said tightly. "Okay, we'll swing over to the gun shop and get Kiara, and then we can head for the mansion."

"All right, Michael."

When they arrived at the gun shop, they found it deserted except for Kiara, who was waiting outside. Michael parked Kitt beside her and got out.

Kiara quietly relayed the story of how they had been captured. "I'm so sorry, Michael," she said in a soft voice, sounding quite miserable. "I wanted to stop her, but the way she was acting…I knew it'd be all but useless. I feel just awful."

"Don't, Kiara," Michael assured her quickly. "It wasn't your fault."

"If she's anything like him, there's nothing you could have done anyway," Kitt put in kindly, a hint of mischief in his tone.

"Thanks a lot," Michael grumbled. "If you're done with the sarcasm, Kitt, scan the place. Look for anything suspicious."

Kitt's scanner swooshed. "Everything seems normal, except for the locked cabinet Kiara told us about and a computerized radio in one corner." He paused. "I have a strange feeling about that radio."

Michael nodded. "All right. If you think there's something weird about that thing, I want you to do a full scan on it. Tell me exactly what it is. Maybe we can get a few clues as to where they've got her in case she's not at the mansion."

Kitt scanned over the radio, and to his surprise, he was denied access. "It's protected by a quite complicated entry code," he reported. "It'll take some time to break it."

"Can you do it on the road?" Michael asked, hurrying inside the store to grab the radio.

"Yes, Michael."

"Good, do it." Michael quickly snatched the device and headed back to Kitt. Michael glanced up. "Kiara, you go home, tell Bonnie what's going on, and don't come after us unless we call you. We'll be back." He stashed the radio in the passenger seat and got in, shutting the door and starting the engine at the same time.

"All right, Michael," Kiara said.

**Going back to** the Foundation was harder than Kitt had expected. They'd already been back there once, after all, but knowing that they might be keeping McKenna hostage in there somehow changed his view. Suddenly the place he had once called his home was a place full of secrets and lies and worry.

The place even looked different. The last time they'd visited just a week ago, the grounds had been blooming with flowers and beautifully tended to. Now, the flower beds were overgrown, weeds were sprouting from every garden, and the vines that decorated the side of the mansion were overrun.

"It's rather hard to believe that this used to be home," Kitt commented quietly as they drove up to the front. "It feels so…different. It even _looks_ different."

"I know," Michael replied, looking around uneasily. "It all looks so rundown." He frowned. "Lowry must be firing people to keep this operation a secret."

Kitt slowly rumbled up the drive to the garage. "Do a full scan for me. Give me the location of every single person on the property."

The virtual map on Kitt's monitor flashed with red dots. "There are ten people in the area, Michael. Eight are armed."

"Can you tell if any one of them is McKenna?"

"I can't identify individual persons, but the red wagon Kiara described is in the garage," Kitt said.

Michael grinned darkly. "Perfect," he muttered. He eased Kitt foreword again. "Keep your scanners peeled, partner. I'm going in."

"Michael, if you're thinking of breaking and entering –" Kitt began to protest.

But the man held up a hand. "That's not my plan, pal."

"Then what exactly is your plan? You do have a plan, don't you?"

"I'm turning myself in, Kitt," he said quietly.

Kitt froze in horror. "Michael, I can't let you!" he cried softly. "I'm your only protection."

"McKenna's in there," he reminded Kitt. "She could be hurt, or worse. I've gotta find her. Don't worry, I'll keep the comlink on and tell you when to come break us out. Sound like a plan?"

"I still don't like it," Kitt muttered, but Michael opened the door anyway. "And you let me know the minute something goes wrong. And for heaven's sake, Michael, _please_ be careful."

He grinned and patted Kitt's t-top. "Piece of cake. Now, you get out of sight."

Kitt reluctantly obeyed as his driver ran off.

Michael quietly snuck into the property. He lifted his comlink to his mouth. "Where are the guards, Kitt?" he murmured.

"There are several in the garage," Kitt reported. "And even more upstairs, in the office."

"All of 'em armed?"

"Yes, Michael."

"All right. Thanks, buddy." Michael crept along the side of the building, sneaking towards the old garage. He knew the place like the back of his hand, and was there in two minutes flat. He froze with his back against the wall and listened.

He heard people chattering lazily – male voices. Peeking around the corner, he saw three men standing together with rifles slung idly over their shoulders. If he attacked, he would be easily outmatched, not to mention out-armed. Perfect. He quickly sketched out a plan in his mind, took a deep breath, and went for it.

He plunged into the garage and swung a fist at the guard closest to him. He didn't hit hard, not nearly enough to knock him out, but the man was taken by surprise and slammed onto the floor.

Michael instantly went for the next closest man, who was more ready. He picked up his rifle and used the butt to block the attack.

The plan went perfectly. In no time at all, he was on the floor, surrounded by the men, all poking guns at him. He instantly raised his hands in the air.

"Get to your feet," one of the guards snarled. He then addressed his friends. "Contact Jones."

One of the men muttered into a small walkie-talkie as the other guard tied Michael's hands behind his back. It wasn't the first time he'd had his hands tied up, but it was unsettling all the same.

When the big black man known as Jones came down, his face was a mask as he stalked up to Michael. "Where's the Knight Two Thousand?" he asked simply.

Michael met his glare. "You have no right to the Knight Two Thousand," he answered, trying to sound level but failing. His voice rose to a growl. "You leave Kitt out of this."

Jones narrowed his eyes. "I asked you a question, man," he snarled.

"And if you think I'm gonna answer, you're sadly mistaken," Michael said calmly.

He felt a tiny jab of electricity on his wrist from the comlink, and he knew that Kitt was trying to signal him, probably to just tell Jones where he was. _I'm not letting these idiots hurt you again, Kitt. I'm going to be sure of that this time._

**Kitt watched as** they took his partner away. He was worried; he didn't like Michael's so-called 'plan', but he knew that nothing he could say would change his mind. Michael was far too stubborn for his own good sometimes.

His processor chose that moment to complete breaking down the code for the radio. He put in the correct code and the results of what the radio truly was came flooding back at him. He stared for a moment, mystified, as he sorted the information into files to store into his memory banks.

The radio was actually a highly advanced voice modifier. Why would two arms dealers need a voice modifier like this one? Unless…Kitt's processor stumbled slightly as a thought entered his CPU.

Nearly trembling, he quietly accessed the memory banks of the other computer, looking for the last transmission made, dreading what he would find. Quickly he decided to play the original voice that had spoken, not the modified one, and fed the transmission through to play through his speakers.

"Kitt!" Corby Grant's voice filtered into the cabin. There was a pause. "Right outside," he then said.

Oh, no…why hadn't he thought of this before?

Shaking now, he entered his own memory banks and accessed the memory of the day he had been deactivated. He listened in sinking horror to the voice he had heard…Michael's voice...as he slammed into a flashback.

"_Kitt!"_ Michael had called.

"_Michael!"_ Kitt had replied, puzzled. _"Is that you? Where are you?"_

"_Right outside,"_ the voice had replied.

No…

The rumble of an engine nearby made him snap out of his flashback. He suddenly realized that he had been so focused on his task that he'd forgotten to keep track of his own current safety.

Before he could access his scanners to see what it was, he felt an uncomfortable scraping, grating on his vulnerable underbelly. The next thing he knew, he was being lifted into the air by a forklift, feeling unbalanced and precarious with his wheels off the ground. Fear sparked at his circuits.

He heard men's voices shouting victoriously, and he realized with a sinking feeling of dread that touched the depths of his processor that he'd fallen into a trap. Both he and Michael had. Furiously, he tried to spin his wheels, but he couldn't gain any traction. It took all of his self-control not to access the comlink and cry for help. Michael couldn't help him now.

His mind reeled with thoughts and possibilities of what they might try to do to him. Deactivate him again? Scrap him? Who knew? And Michael…

A shiver ran through the car frame. Whatever happened, Michael _had_ to be all right. He just _had_ to be.

**McKenna glared at** the man in front of her and wanted to spit at him. After being captured, she'd been dragged back to the Foundation and taken into the mansion. She was now seated in a chair in a dark office room, her feet tied together underneath and her hands tied behind her back. "You know that it's really juvenile to keep me tied up like this?" she shot at them. "It's the kind of stuff you see in kid's books. I'm not surprised you and your small, small brains couldn't come up with anything better."

The short man, Corby, looked sharply at the tall man, Mack. "Wanna tell me again why we didn't gag her?" he grumbled.

"Because the boss wants to talk with her," Mack snapped, glaring at McKenna. He pointed a gnarled finger at her and snarled, "You had better listen up, missy. Your father Michael Knight is a goner. He's as good as dead now. His supercar, too. And once he's dead we'll be free to kill you. So shut up unless you want your doomsday to come a little early." He put his hand warningly on his gun inside the holster wrapped around his belt.

McKenna winced and scowled, but didn't say a word. _You don't have my dad,_ she wanted to snarl. _You won't ever get us!_

"That's better," Mack grumbled. "Now, you just keep your mouth shut, kid. Corby, keep an eye on the girl. I'll be right back."

"Hey! Job description don't say nothing about babysitting some pigheaded teenager!" he protested.

McKenna felt her chest tighten with rage, but she kept her self-control and didn't protest.

"Keep your shirt on, Corby," Mack grumbled. "I'm going to get a few drinks. I'll be back."

"Right," Corby griped irritably.

But while he was on his way to the door, the phone rang. He muttered to himself and picked it up heavily. "Yeah?" he grumbled. There was a pause, and when the tall man next spoke his tone had magically become much politer. "Oh, of course, Mr. Lowry. Yes sir, she's here too. No, sir, she ain't going nowhere. We've got her tied up real good in here. Oh, you're too kind, sir. Yes, sir. Goodbye, sir." He slammed the phone down and glared at Corby. "They've got Knight and the car," he hissed. "Get the kid ready."

McKenna felt her stomach turn to lead. Oh, no. They had her father. They had Kitt. Now what was going to happen to them? Would McKenna ever get to see Leya and Bonnie and Kiara again?

The men roughly untied her legs and walked her down the hall, pushing her and shoving her harshly. McKenna wanted to snap at them or dig her heels in the flat carpeting, but common sense kept her quiet.

What was to become of them now?

**Michael kept his** lips pressed in a tight line as the two thugs prodded him down the dimly lit hallway of the mansion, a gun pressed into the back of his shirt. A terrible smell filled Michael's lungs, but Michael couldn't identify it.

Everything in the hall was dark. No lights were turned on. No glow shone under the doors, and all the curtains were pulled so as to not let any daylight in. A sense of gloom and trouble hung in the air as heavy as the horrible stench. The last time Michael had been here, the place had been cheerful and bright. Ethan Lowry had changed all of that.

Finally, they came to a room with a light shining under the door. They opened it and shoved Michael into the room. He glared at his captors a last time before turning to face the room.

The curtains were still pulled around the two or three windows in the little office, but a ceiling lamp was shining above. The office was mostly plain, but here and there beautiful photographs and paintings hung on the walls. Michael's eyes were instantly drawn to a single photograph, and his gut clenched when he recognized Adrienne St. Clair's face.

In the left corner of a room was a large desk that nearly took up half the room. It looked just like any normal desk you'd see in any office building. The man sitting at the desk was hunched over something as though he were busy at work. His light gray suit was completely wrinkle free, and his dark hair was neatly styled. It was impossible to mistake him.

Michael's captor called over to him. "Sir, it's Jones. We have Knight with us."

Michael smothered his anger as Ethan Lowry swiveled his desk chair to face them, an evil glint in his eye. He smiled coldly at Michael. "Michael," he chuckled darkly. "How nice to see you again."

"It would be nice if I could return the greeting," Michael growled. "Where's my daughter? If you've done anything to her –" His voice rose to a furious snarl as he stepped foreword.

"Keep a can on it, Knight," Jones said in a low, sinister voice as he dug the gun barrel in Michael's shoulder. "Unless you want a hole in your skull."

Lowry chuckled easily. "Thank you, Jones," he said calmly, obviously enjoying Michael's distress. Then he turned to Michael. "A very nice young lady, that girl…what's her name? McKenna? Fine daughter you've raised, Michael." He smiled evilly before he walked a few steps away. "Don't worry about your girl, Knight. She'll be fine just so long as everyone cooperates – and so long as I get what I want."

Michael narrowed his eyes. "You've already got what you want," he spat. "Me. So let them go."

To Michael's dismay, Lowry's face darkened and twisted into an evil glare and he walked up to Michael. "I don't have half what I want," the man growled. "What I want is revenge on my Adrienne's death. I'll make you pay for every drop of blood she spilled because of you. But I'm not going to kill you yet, Knight. I'm too smart for that. You're going to suffer," he spat in a voice full of such fury and hatred that Michael had to flinch ever so slightly.

Lowry's face was contorted with his wrath as he spun on his heel and marched back over to his desk. "I thought you also might want to know what we'll do with your precious partner," he sneered. "I'll rip it to shreds. I know how to destroy it. What do you think I was doing, working all those years at FLAG, but preparing this day? Do you know how long I've waited for this? Years! Decades! Ever since the day Adrienne died, I've been planning this. Now, I will get what I set out to obtain. And I'm going to start with cutting that black tin can of yours up into tiny little pieces to hang on my Christmas tree!"

"Over my dead body, you will. You'll never capture Kitt. He's safe so long as I'm here to protect him."

Another evil gleam sparked in Lowry's eyes, and he grinned like the madman he was. "That's where you're sadly mistaken," he snickered. "My men captured your car just a few minutes ago." His face transformed into a look of phony sympathy. "Oh, I'm afraid that the Knight Two Thousand will be just a heap of scrap of metal by the end of the day. I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Knight." An evil smile cracked on his lips.

Michael had to control the rage crawling up his spine and forced himself not to tackle the man. "If you lay a single grimy finger on Kitt, I'll…"

"You'll die for it, that's what," Lowry laughed. "Take him to the garage, Jones. I want him to hear his beloved partner screaming for his help while he is tied up and powerless." He stalked out the door.

Michael frowned. Things had become that much harder because they had captured Kitt. But they were going to take him to McKenna. And once he had her, they could break out of this place, the place he had once called home.

* * *

Well, I hope that was okay! Don't forget to drop a review! :-)


	13. Almost Escaped

_Chapter Twelve: Almost Escaped_

**The men led **Michael down countless corridors until they reached the garage. Jones gestured to a chair with his gun. "Sit," he ordered.

Michael had no choice but to sit as they tied his legs and hands together.

At that very moment he heard McKenna's voice burst out from behind him. "Dad!"

Michael's shoulders sagged in relief. "Are you okay?" he shouted over to her.

"I'm fine," she replied shakily.

He watched, wincing, as two men shoved her in a chair next to Michael and tied her up.

"It'll be okay," Michael whispered to her once they were momentarily alone. "We'll find a way to get out of here."

"I'm sorry!" McKenna blurted desperately. "I was only trying to help. I'm so sorry, Daddy, I'm so, so sorry!"

"Ssh," Michael hissed, glancing up at their captors. "Forget about it for now, McKenna. We've got to use our brains find a way to escape, not to wallow in guilt."

"They got Kitt," McKenna whispered back. "Is Kiara safe?"

"She's at home." Michael sighed heavily. "And I know that Kitt's here. We'll figure out some way to get out of here alive, I promise."

McKenna winced. She wondered if her father could really hold to that promise.

The furious hissing of tires and the whine of a turbine engine told them that Kitt was near. When he finally came into view, he was being dragged along by a tow-truck, which was harnessed firmly to Kitt's prow. He was struggling furiously, and his crimson scanner was flashing feverishly.

Kitt stopped struggling the instant he saw his driver. "Michael, McKenna! You're all right!" he cried in relief.

Michael ignored the warning gun poking at his shoulder. "Get out of here _now_, Kitt!" he shouted. "Get to safety!"

"But Michael, I can't leave you!"

"Go, _right now!_" Michael repeated. "I won't let you die again!"

"Very touching," Lowry sneered, interrupting. "But let's get the show on the road, shall we?"

Kitt focused his gaze on Ethan Lowry to glare at him. "What are you going to try to do to Michael? I will never allow you to hurt him, or McKenna!"

"Nothing yet, Kitt," Lowry replied calmly. "It's your turn right now. But once you're dead, Michael will die an even slower, more torturous death than you will feel in a few moments. And that's saying something. Now open the hood."

Kitt's circuitry crawled with horror. "And what if I refuse to open my hood?" he growled.

Lowry gave a signal, and Jones pointed the gun at McKenna while Mack pointed his at Michael's throat. "They both die here and now," Lowry said simply. "I was going to let the girl go, but if you don't cooperate, I'm afraid I'll have no choice. And you will have to watch Michael and his daughter die right in front of you. It will be very painful. These men are professional gunmen; they know how to shoot where it hurts. You will watch them bleed to death helplessly. You will be unable to stop it. And they will both die right under your nose."

Kitt trembled physically.

If McKenna had been pale before, now she was white as a sheet. "No, Kitt!" she screamed. "Don't do it! Forget us. Go."

Lowry gave another signal and Jones cocked the gun barrel. "Open the hood, Kitt," he said quietly.

Kitt whimpered. "I'm sorry, McKenna," he said in a low, miserable voice. "I have to."

His hood opened a few inches.

"No!" McKenna and Michael cried together.

Instantly two men shoved the hood open, and in an instant there was a sparking of cables and wires, and blue light arched from the hood of the car. The hissing and spitting of electricity filled the room.

They were _electrocuting_ Kitt.

The Trans Am jerked backwards in pain, and he gasped. No…oh, no.

"Fools! That's not nearly enough to terminate it," Lowry snapped. "Intensify the voltage!"

God, no…Michael winced in pain as if it were he who was being electrocuted, and not his partner. How much of this could Kitt take before…?

Kitt's scanner began pacing in crazy directions, first flaring from end to end and then dying, then coming to life again to flash frantically. Two red lights bounced wildly back and forth on the scanner in a way Michael had only seen once, when Kitt's CPU had been removed from the car by…by none other than Adrienne Margeaux. The thought hit him like a punch in the gut for some reason. Maybe because it had been so long since he'd seen Kitt like this. Or maybe it was because, when it really came down to it, Kitt's pain this time was her fault, too.

Hatred coursed through him. She had hurt Kitt one too many times. She'd nearly killed him so many years ago, and even now her greed was being used to hurt Michael's partner and friend.

Kitt suddenly shot backwards, silently begging for the electric flow to stop. Lowry laughed. "More! Intensify the charge by triple!" he crowed in glee. A maddened gleam shone in his eyes, a gleam of evil hunger for the satisfaction of watching his enemy suffering so deeply. Michael felt his hatred intensify with every passing second. Desperately he yanked at the ropes. Too strong.

He watched, heart pounding, as a man turned a dial on the huge computer Kitt was now connected to. There was a humming sound just before the blue electric sparks erupted over the whole car.

And Kitt screamed.

Michael gasped in pain for his friend. He had never, ever heard Kitt scream before. He'd always suffered his pain in silence. Anything to make Kitt scream like this must be…terrible. Michael could almost feel the agonizing pain shooting up his own spine.

"Michael!" Kitt screamed. "Help me! Help…" Kitt's desperate cry ended in a weak, gasping sob, and the scanner light flickered dangerously.

_Enough._

Jones had a knife in his back pocket. Twisting his arms around quietly, he slid it out of its' place. In one swift motion, he cut himself free of the ropes. He was lucky that he caught Jones in a moment of distraction as he stared at Kitt, because it gave him the split second of time he needed. In an instant Michael twisted around and had hit Jones in the jaw. Crying out in astonishment and pain, Jones dropped the gun and fell to the floor and lay still.

"Grab him, fools!" Lowry was screaming. "Get him!"

Corby and Mack began to leap at Michael, but Michael snatched Jones's gun and lifted it threateningly at the men holding McKenna captive. "Throw your weapons down," he ordered. "Now!"

Mack's face went white as a sheet as his gun clattered to the ground. His hands flew up in the air.

Michael nodded. "Thank you. Now, _let her go_."

Stunned and unarmed, Corby and Mack slowly untied McKenna's hands and let her go. She went instantly to his side.

Michael grinned humorlessly at her. "Can you handle this thing?" he asked, gesturing to the pistol.

She gulped. "I think so."

Michael nodded tightly and gave her Corby's gun. "Make sure these guys don't go anywhere."

Michael spun around and hurried to Kitt. A man was approaching the car with a crowbar. Michael threw himself against the other man and grabbed his shirt. "Stop the electricity charge," he ordered. "Right now, or else!"

"All right, all right!" the man gasped, stunned. He backed off, and Michael kept watch as he nervously typed a code into a computer. But one eye was anxiously watching his partner, checking for any signs that the voltage surge was slowing down at all.

Finally, the sparking blue electricity faded. A few sparks still fizzled throughout the car, but the worst was over.

"Kitt?" Michael called anxiously, backing up towards the Trans Am while keeping the technician at gunpoint. "Talk to me. You okay?"

He heard a distorted sound from the car, but it was so quiet he barely heard it.

Michael took another step back so that he stood beside the car. He leaned against the fender and put a gentle hand on the hood, not daring to take his eyes off the technician. "Kitt? Buddy, you all right? Come on, say something to me."

Silence.

"Come on," he repeated. "Talk to me, Kitt."

He saw one single square light up weakly. At least Kitt was alive.

_For now,_ an ominous voice warned in his head.

"Michael…" Kitt called weakly in a voice edged with terror and pain. Michael's heart cracked hearing the agony in his voice. "The voltage was too high…too much…I couldn't deal with it…I'm sorry…" The single red light flickered dangerously, and Michael felt his friend's pain. This was turning out to be a real nightmare.

"Easy, Kitt," he murmured steadily, trying to ignore the fear spiking in his chest as he pressed his palm to the shining black fender. "Not your fault. We'll get you home soon."

Suddenly he heard McKenna shrieking. He spun around to see Lowry, covering her mouth with his hand. She was struggling, but he was too strong.

"McKenna!" he shouted. "Your gun! Use your gun!"

But it was too late. Lowry wrenched the gun out of the startled young girl's grip, and let go. He held her at gunpoint as he gestured to Corby and Mack. "Get him already," he hissed.

The two men sprinted towards Michael.

In an instant he heard Kitt's rasping voice behind him. "Michael, run!"

Michael hesitated. He could run, and save his own life so he could come back for them. But if he wasn't here to protect them, would they be here to rescue at all? He could lose both McKenna and Kitt forever. His mind and heart were torn in two.

"Run!" Kitt shouted. "We'll be fine!"

He was outnumbered. There was no way he'd be able to rescue them this way. He spun around, sending out his captured family a silent promise to return.

Corby's pudgy legs prevented him from going fast, and Michael pulled away from him quickly. He panted and huffed after Michael to no avail.

But Mack easily caught up with Michael and tried to knock him out.

But he underestimated Michael. As he went to punch Michael in the gut, Michael brought his knee up sharply to hit him somewhere painful. Groaning in pain, Mack recoiled. And in his opponent's split second hesitation, Michael swung a fist towards his head and felt his hand collide with the man's skull.

Mack fell to the ground.

Michael didn't wait to see if he would get up or not. He turned and ran again.

Michael bolted down the driveway and darted into the bushes, his feet scrambling for footing on the pebbly gravel. The sharp branches raked across his hands and face, though his arms were protected by his leather jacket.

Quickly he found a spot to lie low and crouched in the thick leaves. The bushes were still swaying from his movement, and he could only pray that the thugs wouldn't notice it or that a strong wind would pick up to cover up the unnatural movement in the branches.

He shrank back and opened his eyes and ears wide. He was on 'surveillance mode', as Kitt might say, to keep a watch for anyone nearing him.

The first sign he got was the huffing and puffing of a man who'd been running for miles, though in this case it was just a very overweight man trying to catch someone who was probably long gone.

Michael tried to find the man with his eyes, but he couldn't see Corby. He twisted his head around to try and get a better view, but suddenly something snagged him by the hair from behind.

Michael instinctively reached up to hit whatever it was, ducking away.

_Bad move._

The instant the warning crossed his mind, his hand hit a branch. It snapped loudly as he realized that whatever had been grabbing him was only a stick. He swore silently.

The heavy breathing quieted, as though Corby was trying to hide his presence, as the soft footsteps crunched closer to him, slowly, step by step.

Michael's held his breath.

Branches above his head rustled, and he had to force himself not to dart from his hiding place. He realized that his fingers were clawing the dirt with vengeance, and he forced himself to relax his grip.

The rustling quieted. Michael was too afraid that if he moved he would attract unwanted attention to turn his head to see what was happening.

Finally, everything was dead silent.

Was he gone? Michael didn't hear a single thing anymore. Hesitantly, trying not to make a noise, he turned his head to look. And he froze.

A gun barrel was pointed straight at his face.

For a moment he had a crystal clear view inside the silver pistol, where it was dark and dusty. But he could see the bullets loaded, ready to shoot. Ready to kill him in an instant.

_Gun raised at his face._

_Thunderclap of a gunshot echoing in his ears._

_Silent screams of pain._

_Darkness. Total darkness._

Michael trembled slightly as memories flooded his head of the day Michael Long had died. Of the day _he_ had died. They were memories that hadn't been stirred up in years. Now they came crashing back down on him like the whole of Niagara Falls plunging down onto him, drowning him, killing him all over again…

"All right, if you're in there, come out with yours hands up, Knight."

Michael realized suddenly that Corby didn't know for sure if he was in there. Michael stayed frozen in place, frozen in time.

Suddenly a white-hot flash blinded him. Just an instant later a booming, echoing crack split the air, loud enough to shatter anybody's eardrums. Searing pain hit Michael full-force.

_I'm dying,_ Michael thought before he blacked out. _God, I'm dying all over again._

That was his last thought before his world went white, and then black.

Back at the garage, McKenna heard the bang rip through the night. A cold feeling of horror and shock settled in her. Was it a gunshot? No…oh, no, please!

"Michael!" Kitt suddenly screamed. "No!"

And McKenna felt her heart shatter into a million tiny pieces.

* * *

O.O

Please don't kill me! XD I'm gonna have the next chapter up real soon, I promise!

P.S., I think Kitt needs a hug. Poor Trans Am!


	14. Back In The Game

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Knight Rider! The only characters I own are McKenna, Kiara, and Bobby : )

* * *

**Jones quickly locked** McKenna inside Kitt, after he had been immobilized on a car lift. She would be unable to escape, as Kitt had been cut off from most of the systems concerning the operation of the car. Both were in too much of a daze to protest.

Kitt was almost stammering. The programming that was the basis for his core existence was inside out. He was supposed to protect the life of this very one human…and he didn't know if Michael had survived the bullet or not. And as he tried to scan Michael's vitals, his medical scanners spit back nothing but nonsense at him. "No…" he whispered in a choked voice. _Michael…no! Please, no…_

McKenna flung her arms around the wheel and hugged it tightly. "Oh, Kitt," she moaned, almost too stunned and horrified to speak. After hugging Kitt like she was afraid he would disappear at any second, she sniffled weakly. "Where is he?" she croaked, barely able to get the words out. "Can you see him?"

Kitt showed her on the monitor. She saw her father, lying silent and motionless in the bushes. Corby held a smoking gun, which he was slowly pulling back. "Is…he all right?" she asked timidly.

"I can't access my medical scanners to tell if he is all right or not," Kitt explained hoarsely, his voice dragging from the high voltage his systems had been subjected to, making him sound as if he was drowning. "I…I don't know. I just don't know."

McKenna heard the shock and pain she could feel echoed in Kitt's voice. Squeezing her eyes shut, she hugged him tightly. A tear trickled down her face.

"I told him to run," Kitt continued weakly. "If he's…gone, then…it's _my fault_." A wave of agony and shame came through in the two words.

McKenna gripped the wheel tighter. "No!" she burst out, rather suddenly. "Don't say that, Kitt! Please! It wasn't you who killed him!"

Kitt was stunned into silence for a moment. He knew that Michael would have told Kitt the same thing if he were here to witness Kitt's confession. Maybe not in those very words, but the message would get across.

"It…it was me." McKenna's voice quivered. "It was my fault. If only I'd stayed at the house. He told me not to come here…but I came anyway." A wave of shock, remorse and self-loathing settled in her as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly again and leaned her forehead against the wheel. Tears trickled down the leather. "I'm so, so sorry, Dad," she whispered. "It was my fault. I'm sorry…" Her body shook with barely suppressed sobs.

Kitt wished he could hold her. "McKenna, if it wasn't my fault, it wasn't yours, either," he told her gently, biting back his own grief. "Follow your own advice: We can't change it by blaming ourselves. Please don't."

"I can't help it," McKenna croaked weakly. "I did something that no one will ever be able to ever forgive me for." She sniffled. "And I will never forgive myself in a million years."

Kitt had no words that could comfort her. He could only let her bury her face into his upholstery, sobbing. Kitt blinked his scanner, almost wishing that he could do the same.

McKenna jumped in surprise as the silence of the cabin was broken by the hiss and crackle of electricity. The gauges on Kitt's dashboard spiked high, and then fell quiet again. She winced. How could she have forgotten the torture Kitt had been subjected to? He must be suffering terribly!

"Is there something I can do?" she asked softly. "To help repair the damage?"

"No."

McKenna paused. She was startled by his short answer. "Are you sure? I'm pretty good at mechanics and stuff. I actually outclassed all the boys at my school in the computer class." She tried to smile through the tears streaking her face.

"No thank you, McKenna." Kitt synthesized a sad, electronic sigh.

"You loved him, didn't you?" The words were out almost before she could realize what she was saying.

There was a heavy pause, and McKenna got the distinct impression that Kitt was staring at her. Could computers stare? This one certainly could, she decided.

"In a sense of the word, yes," Kitt conceded. "I cared for Michael a great deal, as a partner and a friend…almost a brother. He was quite special to me."

"Present tense, Kitt. '_Is_' quite special to you. Not '_was_'."

"Yes, McKenna." There was a hint of a tired smile in the AI's voice, but mostly he sounded…he sounded sad.

She leaned her head against the wheel. "I love him too, Kitt. He's my dad. I'd be lost without him. He was always the best."

Now there was definitely a smile in Kitt's voice. "Present tense, McKenna."

She chuckled weakly. "Wise guy."

For a moment both watched Corby walk away from the silent body. McKenna felt another tear slip down her cheek.

McKenna stayed awake for a few hours, helping Kitt keep watch over her father. Kitt saw her getting tired. She yawned constantly, and often rested her head on the steering wheel. Finally, she reclined the seat and almost instantly dropped into a deep sleep.

Most of that night, Kitt stayed awake, watching over his driver, who was still lying in the bushes. Michael hadn't moved for four whole hours. Kitt was really beginning to panic, and partly because he couldn't do anything about this. He was as helpless as a puppy that hadn't opened his eyes yet. Michael was in danger. No matter what had happened, his life was in danger. And Kitt could do nothing but watch in silence.

This was the worst torture imaginable. Kitt was supposed to _protect_ Michael. His programming to keep Michael safe went as deep as instinct, and it hurt like a thousand knives to see him in such great danger and not be able to do anything about it.

The sole comfort he had was McKenna, curled up against the dashboard. Her soft, deep breathing and steady heartbeat was soothing. McKenna was all right. Scared, but all right.

Kitt then vowed to always protect Michael's only daughter, the only connection he had to his old friend. If Michael was dead, he would want Kitt to defend and protect McKenna. He would want them both to be safe.

He sat vigil all night, simply watching Michael, every sensor acutely attuned to even the slightest movement he might make. He needed something, _anything_, to tell him that Michael was alive.

Finally, at nearly midnight, Mack came by just to check on them. Kitt, dulled to the world by his quiet task of watching Michael, barely noticed him. He had shut down all of his systems except for his scanners (all of which were directed at Michael) to conserve his energy, but he was losing power, fast. He would need to recharge soon, but he didn't know if he would ever be able to bring himself to do it, with Michael either near death…or already dead.

Suddenly he froze. His long-range scanners had suddenly gone offline without a notice. Fear gripped deep in his circuitry, and he realized that Mack must have seen how acutely they were tuned to the body of his driver. He'd turned them off somehow.

Kitt was furious, but when he tried to get up enough power to protest, his power supply shrank rapidly. He tried not to moan. He had no choice now but to recharge.

A terrible dread descended upon him, weighing on his mind heavier than a sack of bricks. What if Michael was dead? What if they never saw him again? _What if it was my fault?_ Kitt thought miserably.

Miserable and tortured by the thought that his driver might be gone forever, Kitt finally let himself shut down so he could recharge.

**Something was pulling** at her. McKenna moaned and stirred in her sleep. She was so tired…sleep was just about the only thing she wanted. Sleep and the warm, comforting presence of her protector. She gripped Kitt's steering wheel tighter.

It was her second day as a captive. How she'd spent the night so soundly without waking up was beyond her. She wondered briefly if Bonnie was worried about them. She'd been missing for almost fourteen hours now.

Then she became aware of the whine of Kitt's engine. Whatever was happening to them wasn't good, but what else was new?

Suddenly her mind registered that Corby had his hand on her arm, and was yanking her out of sleep. "Get up, brat," he snarled. "Come on!"

Kitt's slightly accented voice broke him off, and McKenna had never heard Kitt so angry. "If you hurt Michael's daughter, I may be forced to override my dominant programming."

McKenna's heart skipped a beat. Kitt would do that for her?

He was trying to drag her out of the car. She grabbed the steering wheel and hooked her heel on the running board. "I'm not leaving him!" She gave him a defiant glare.

"Oh, yes, you are," Corby roared. "Out! Now! I will not ask you again!" He raised a warning fist.

"Go, McKenna," Kitt said shakily. "Don't you worry. I promise I'll be back for you."

McKenna cast a desperate look at the voice box. "What about you?" she cried.

"I'll look after myself," he assured her. "Do as he says for now, sweetheart. I'll get us out of here."

McKenna had no choice but to what Kitt said. Reluctantly, she let go of Kitt and slid out of the car onto the cold, concrete flooring.

He led her down dark hallways reeking of cigarette smoke. Corby stopped her at the very last room in the hallway. McKenna swallowed hard when she saw the combination locks that added to the deadbolt and the normal lock on the door.

Fumbling with his keys, he opened it to reveal a tiny office room. Unlike the other rooms in the building, it had no windows at all, and no furniture except for an old red sofa in a corner that looked to be about twelve years old, judging by the numerous rips in the fabric and it's faded color. Overhead, a dim ceiling light shone dully down upon the two.

Corby pushed her inside, unbalancing her. She gasped and stumbled foreword, falling on the floor. She sprang back to her feet to glare maliciously at him.

"Don't try and break through the door," he warned her. "It's reinforced. You'll only hurt yourself if you try to break it." He looked as he was about to leave, then he paused. "Oh, yeah right, Lowry wanted me to tell you," he snickered, gesturing to the clock on the far wall of the room. "You've got a half an hour to live. We'll be demolishing that black hunk of tin in that time, and once it's destroyed we'll get on with you. Have a nice visit," he finished with a cackle as he shut the door. A moment later McKenna heard the clicks and clunks as he locked every single lock on the over-secure door. Finally the metallic clinks stilled, and she heard his footsteps thumping down the hall.

The instant the last of his footsteps faded, she collapsed on the couch, curled up, and squeezed her eyes shut to fight back tears. But it was no use. Two tears leaked out of her eyes, and she wiped them away furiously with the back of her hand. She could not cry. She _wouldn't_ cry. She…she…

McKenna burst into tears. As soon as the first tears were shed, the others that followed seemed unstoppable.

She thought over the past ten years of her life, with her father there for her every step of the way. He'd taught her how to ride a bike, and how to play baseball, and all the things none of the other girls at her school had any interest in learning. She used to get so discouraged when none of her friends liked the same things she did, but her dad had told her not to pay any attention. What she liked was part of what made her who she was, and that was far more important than what the others thought. She could vaguely remember when she was little, playing with him with her much-loved stuffed animals and when he would complain about McKenna growing up too fast. Had she killed all that? Her heart wrenched in a new way. She'd killed…she couldn't even think it. What would Bonnie say? Kiara? Bobby? No one would ever trust her again. Inside, she knew that she shouldn't give up hope yet...but she couldn't help herself all of a sudden.

So what? She deserved it. She'd thought that she could do everything on her own and not need any help. She needed help. She was in a situation and she couldn't get out. If she didn't come up with anything, she was going to die in a half and hour, and take Kitt with her. By going to the mansion yesterday, she'd wasted two lives, and ended her own.

Michael and Kitt had been noble and good and kind and respected. And she was going to kill both of them, McKenna realized with a horrified sob. Her father's death had come because of her. Now, Kitt was going to die for her, too!

Suddenly fury burst inside her. No! She would not let that happen! She couldn't let Kitt suffer and even die for her mistakes. She shivered. There had to be something she could do. She wiped away her tears with her arm and her sleeve was pulled up. There, on her wrist, sat the comlink.

Hadn't her mother said something about the comlink being used to communicate with Kiara? Something about a special programming…oh, why hadn't she listened harder to her mom!

Yes! Bonnie had said that once she programmed the comlink, it could project to Kiara as well as Kitt. If the comlink had been programmed to reach Kiara, she could call in reinforcements. But if it hadn't been yet…they were stuck with no way out.

She crouched over her wrist, pulling up her sleeve to examine the comlink. There had to be something she could do with it!

The comlink was designed to look as normal as possible, but several buttons lined the sides of it. Helplessly, she tried one. The numbers that showed the time – 7:58 AM – disappeared and two flashing words replaced it.

ON/OFF

Quickly, McKenna pressed the button again to turn the function off. The time came back on, and this time the 7 was flashing. Irritated, she kept on pressing until it was back to the normal time screen. Then she tried the next button up. To her relief, she understood the words that flashed on the screen.

PROGRAMMED RECEIVER: KNIGHT 2000

The words 'Knight 2000' were flashing. She pressed another button, relieved. She'd found it!

PROGRAMMED RECEIVER: KIARA

McKenna tried not to whoop and holler in joy. Her mom had already programmed Kiara's link into the watch, and she'd figured out how to turn it on. Quickly she pressed the button to save the program, and then didn't waste a minute before she raised the comlink to her mouth. "Kiara? You there?"

"McKenna? Is that you?" Kiara's relieved and hopeful voice nearly made McKenna melt in relief. "Are you all right?"

"For now."

"The comlink isn't supposed to be functional yet."

"I know," she whispered. "I reprogrammed it to transmit to you. Listen, Dad and Kitt and I are in big trouble. I mean, big trouble. Where are you?"

"In the garage," Kiara replied. "What's wrong, McKenna? I'm not picking up Kitt's signal."

"We're trapped," McKenna explained in a low whisper. "I'm locked in an office room, heaven only knows where Kitt is, and Dad…" Her voice caught. "Dad might be dead," she said hoarsely. "They're trying to destroy Kitt right now, as we speak. I need you to come. When you get here, find him first, and then come break me out of this darn room." Words suddenly spilled out of her mouth like a waterfall, her mind working fast to crank out ideas to escape. Her voice sounded calm and collected, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

"I'm on my way, McKenna," Kiara assured her. "Hang on. I'll be there shortly." The link was cut.

McKenna bit her lip. "Hurry, Kiara, hurry," she whispered into thin air.

**Kiara gunned the** engine. Her voice stress analyzer had told her that McKenna was very frightened, but staying calm for now. Kiara needed to get there as soon as possible to find her driver before it was too late.

But as she was driving out of the garage, Karr appeared on the road. He swerved to block her path.

"Hold up!" Bobby yelled to the angrily revving blue Mustang. "Kiara? That you? What's going on here?"

"McKenna and Michael are in trouble," Kiara answered evenly. "I'm going to rescue them."

Bobby raised his eyebrows. "Without the MBS? Without Bonnie's okay?"

"I have no choice," Kiara replied quietly. "They need my help. I'm going to help them. Now please get out of my way!"

"We're coming with you," Bobby decided. "You're going to need all the help you can get."

"Do what you want," Kiara said firmly. "Just follow me and don't try to stop me from doing my job." Together the blue Mustang and the solid black Camero flew down the road in the direction of the Knight mansion.

Kiara tore out of the driveway. Bobby twisted the wheel to follow, but suddenly the 'Auto' light went on and the brake pedal depressed sharply. Bobby flew foreword as the Camero screeched to a halt. "Karr! What the heck was that for?"

"I'm not going," Karr growled. "She's heading for the Knight mansion. I will not return."

Bobby stared at one of the several cameras he had mounted in the cabin. "Why not?" he asked. It wasn't an accusation. Just a request.

He felt the car shudder slightly. "I have my reasons," he growled. "I swore never to return. The people there betrayed me in every way there is. I will not go back."

"Kitt's in there," Bobby reminded him.

"So?"

"They're taking him apart right now."

"Why should I care?" Karr hissed. But Bobby picked up slight unease in his voice.

"Because he's your brother," Bobby replied softly, putting Karr back in 'Normal' mode and pressing the accelerator again, relieved when Karr didn't physically protest. "And they're doing the same thing to him that they did to you."

Karr didn't reply for a time. He let Bobby drive, following the Mustang on a twisting route towards the mansion. Then he spoke very quietly. "I would not wish my torture on any other living being."

Bobby acknowledged his words with a nod.

"But then again, Kitt's not quite living."

This got a grin from Bobby, and he rolled his eyes, recognizing one of Karr's weird acerbic jokes. Karr would help. "C'mon, you big tin can," he chuckled. "Let's go."

This time Karr leaned into the wind to follow the Mustang.

* * *

…And we still don't have any official news on Michael. *bites fingernails* McKenna seems to suspect the worst, but Kitt's still holding onto the hope that Michael's alive…sort of.

And, Kiara finally gets to come back into the story! She was starting to get seriously ticked off at me for kinda shoving her to the side for the time being, so she and Karr threatened to run me down if I didn't bring them back into the adventure. (Kiara wouldn't really do it because of her programming, but, well…you're never really sure with Karr! ;D )

Next chapter will be out soon. I'm just waiting to get it back from my beta reader.


	15. Vengance

All righty, new chapter! I would've uploaded it sooner, but was giving me some issues uploading the document...grr. Hopefully, some loose ends will be tied up in this chapter.

Annnnd, I meant to put this in the last chapter but I forgot. I now have a website for my fan fiction stories! Yay! I have some fics from other fandoms on there, but it's mostly KR. Here's the URL : www. freewebs .com/knightsdawnfanfic/ (minus the spaces)

There's not a whole lot on there yet, but I'll keep updating it. Hopefully I'll have character profiles for McKenna and Bobby soon so you can see what they look like! I'm still working on photoshopping the pics for what Kiara and Karr look like in normal and, eventually, SPM modes.

OK, read on, and please don't forget to drop a review! Thanks in advance!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Knight Rider, Michael Knight, Kitt, ect. I do, however, own McKenna, Kiara, Bobby, ect.

* * *

_Vengeance_

**Was it dark** or light? He couldn't tell – it was all just a whirling mass of confusion. What had happened? Where was he?

Suddenly the whirling colors shrank away to reveal total darkness. From the blackness, he saw a gun being raised, and the shot echoed through the shadows. He winced.

Michael shivered. It was cold. What was happening to him? Why was he here?

Slowly he tried to pull his eyes open so he might get a glance at where he was. His eyelids seemed to be made of steel. With effort, he managed to pry them open. He blinked.

He was in the middle of a pile of green leaves and branches. Bushes?

Suddenly it all came flooding back to him. He gasped and shivered, trying to sit up. His muscles screamed in protest; burning pain hit him, throbbing hard from his shoulder, and he forced himself to lie back down.

For a moment he was still, waiting for the pain to subside. When it did, he opened his eyes again to take in his surroundings.

It was night. No stars glittered above him, and the moon was a faint glow of silvery light in the otherwise dark clouds. Slowly, Michael raised his uninjured arm to check his comlink watch. It was nearly one in the morning. How long had he been laying here, unconscious? McKenna and Kitt must be so worried about him…

The thought of McKenna and Kitt nearly made him try to sit up straight again, but he held the urge back and slowly pushed himself to a sitting position in the dirt. He glanced at his hands. His fingernails were full of dirt, and he remembered scraping at the ground with his fingers just before the gunshot.

The gunshot. How badly had he been hurt? He tenderly reached up and pulled away the shoulder of his jacket and shirt, wincing as the hot stinging returned to his shoulder. He glanced down. It was a superficial cut; just enough to leave a burning mark in his shoulder to remind him of his close escape.

How could he have been so stupid!

Michael could have growled at himself in frustration. He should have known better than to go through with this crazy plan. Should've been better than running…should've, should've, should've…

He hoped McKenna and Kitt were coping all right for now. He glanced again at his shoulder. A few inches over, and the gunshot would have hit his chest. He'd been very lucky.

_Not the first time Lady Luck's granted me some time,_ he thought, grunting as he slowly managed to climb to his feet. _I just hope her good mood lasts for the rest of this mission – for me, McKenna and Kitt._

He raised his comlink to his mouth. "Kitt?" he whispered.

Nothing. Not even static.

"Kitt?" he repeated, but there was still nothing. He began to worry. Kitt wasn't responding. What had happened…?

Then he recalled the electrical charge they had put Kitt through, and he winced. Kitt had been damaged, but functional when Michael had left him. He could only hope that he still was. And what about McKenna? Was she all right?

He'd have to figure out something, and fast.

Michael frowned as he assessed his situation. He could run for reinforcements and come back to save his family. But then it might be too late.

He sighed and groaned. His choices were few. But they had to be made. He turned and began to walk towards the road. The sound of squealing tires made him pause, and his jaw dropped in shock as he saw a black Camero speeding up the drive, its' amber scanner pacing madly. It halted next to them with a screech of the brakes.

The darkened window rolled down to reveal Bobby Fallon smiling at him. "Hop in," he invited as the passenger side door whirred open.

Michael blinked. "You sure?"

"Get in the car," Bobby repeated, more forcibly this time. "We've got a damsel in distress to save."

Michael hopped into the Camero and closed the door. He'd never seen Karr's new dashboard up close before. It looked like a normal dash except for the voice modulator above the steering column, and two central control consoles between the bucket seats. He could see a turbo boost button, a ski mode button, and a couple scan buttons, to name a few. He barely had time to wonder how Bobby had known about all of KARR's functions.

Michael couldn't help feeling nervous. Even though the vehicle was different, Karr's powerful, untamed presence was the same. It made him wary.

Bobby obviously noticed that he was nervous. "Relax," he laughed. "Karr isn't anything to worry about. He's as worried about Kitt as you are about McKenna."

Karr growled, and Michael flinched. But Bobby only laughed, and Michael shook his head at the obvious rapport the two had between them. There was a bond there, that he knew for sure. One that went every bit as deep as the one between Kitt and himself. He suddenly felt a twinge of guilt for trying to destroy Karr so many years ago.

But Karr had an unbreakable spirit. The tough, ill-tempered AI had been to hell and back, and nothing seemed to have the power to crush his determination. It was almost admirable.

"Why did you decide to come back for us?" he called to Bobby as they roared up to the mansion.

Bobby shrugged and smiled. "Kiara told us what was happening, and that she was going to help. Karr and I couldn't let her go alone."

"Kiara's here?" Michael echoed, astonished.

"Yeah. She said that McKenna had contacted her via the comlink, saying that there was trouble and to come to the mansion immediately." He shot Michael a puzzled look. "You didn't know?"

He was beaming proudly. "I had no idea."

They were rapidly approaching the outer wall of the testing garage. "Prepare for impact," Karr said coolly. Bobby held the wheel with unruffled calm as they dove headfirst into the wall.

Plaster and concrete crumbled around them. The Camero's hind end swung around as they came out of the cloud of dust to reveal several technicians shouting in alarm and running for cover. The room was filled with computer equipment, and one of the walls was made of thick concrete blocks. Crashing sounds came from the other side of the wall, and Michael could see a thick crack running down the middle that was widening with every crash.

"What's behind that wall?" Bobby asked.

Karr didn't hesitate before answering. "Kitt," he said quietly.

Michael could've sworn. What were they doing to him? "What's going on?" he demanded.

"They have locked Kitt in a room with walls two feet thick made of two sheets of solid, reinforced concrete," Karr reported, a twinge of nervousness entering his deep voice. "He is currently trying to break out. There are humans in there, too. They are attempting to override his central processing unit."

Michael gritted his teeth. "I'm going in there."

"It's too dangerous for anybody to go in there but Karr," Bobby objected. Michael frowned, but he couldn't deny the logic in Bobby's words.

"Hang on tight," Karr warned. "This isn't gonna be easy." The engine gunned and the Camero shot foreword into the wall. The tough shell of the car slammed into the wall, tearing the fracture open further. The entire car shuddered, but the wall didn't break.

Michael wondered with a wince how many times Kitt had tried to break the wall. He must be absolutely hysterical with worry and pain by now…

Karr backed up and tried again. But this time, another splitting crack echoed on the other side of the wall the moment before Karr crashed into it.

The wall broke.

Karr slammed on the brakes and Michael felt the car collide with another object lost in the cloud of dust. Karr trembled violently as the room was filled with the sickening crack of reinforced metal hitting reinforced metal. _Kitt._

It wasn't long before everything was still again and the dust was clearing. Karr was almost touching Kitt's side, and Michael was too worried to notice Karr almost flinch away from the Trans Am. "Is Kitt all right?" he asked instead, unsure if he was addressing Bobby or Karr.

In any case, it was Karr who answered. "I'm scanning that Kitt's systems are operating at twenty percent," he stated. "His power supplies are down by three fourths, and half of his systems are currently nonfunctional."

Michael gritted his teeth and tried to see Kitt through the dust. He could just barely see the outline of the black car. Kitt was quiet and still.

"How many of Lowry's men are in there?" Bobby asked.

"Ten. Wait, two. The others have run."

Bobby smiled. "Let's give those last two a reason to follow." He gunned the engine again and Karr darted past Kitt, out of the still settling dust cloud. Kitt still didn't move.

He heard human shouts as Karr roared into view. Two men scrambled frantically for a door on one side of the room, and in just a few moments, the room was empty except for Kitt and Karr.

Bobby darted out, followed by Michael. "Karr, stay with Kitt," Bobby ordered. "Get him to safety. Make sure nothing more happens to him. Michael and I are going to find McKenna and Kiara."

Karr didn't respond immediately. Finally, he muttered, "Affirmative." He backed up towards Kitt.

Michael turned anxiously to watch Karr back up towards the Trans Am. The throb of the turbine engine was weak and choked, but at least it was still running. Would Karr really stay here with Kitt? Or was this just a trick…?

Bobby grabbed his arm. "He'll be fine," he said, as though he could read Michael's thoughts. "Come on. Karr will make sure nothing happens to him."

The two men rushed out of the room as Karr parked beside the dusty Trans Am. He paused awkwardly, unsure of what to do next.

Bobby had told him to get Kitt to safety. Okay, then. Karr dropped into drive and slipped around to the front of the other black car. Refusing to say a word, he jettisoned his grappling hook out his back bumper and felt it connect with the front of Kitt's undercarriage. The black Trans Am flinched.

Karr swore to himself.

There was a strange, crackling sound almost like a human cough from Kitt. "Karr?" Kitt's voice was distorted and weak. "What are you doing here?"

"Bobby ordered me to," Karr replied tightly. He tried to make it obvious that he didn't want to talk. "Stay still and don't fight me. I'm getting you out of here." He began to pull foreword, dragging Kitt behind him.

Kitt seemed to get the hint for a few seconds, and then he spoke again. "You shouldn't be here."

_I know, believe me, I know._ Karr grumbled to himself as he navigated his way out of the room.

"You should be helping Bobby," Kitt continued. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Looking for McKenna and Lowry," Karr told him briskly.

A shuddering sigh ran through Kitt, one that was hard to detect on the outside but came in strong echoes through the half-opened channel between the AIs. For a moment, Karr almost felt sympathetic.

He pulled Kitt out of the destroyed building, and around front. _Why am I doing this?_ he grumbled to himself in frustration. His systems were being strained to the max here. He and Kitt were enemies.

_Were_ enemies.

He growled at the tiny voice in his mind.

Frustrated with himself, he towed Kitt to the old garage on the other side of the warehouse and stopped. He released Kitt from the grappling hook. "You ought to shut down to recharge for a few minutes," Karr warned him. "I can keep watch for danger."

Kitt ignored him. "Go," he rasped instead.

Karr was taken aback. "What?"

"Go! Find Bobby and McKenna and Kiara…and help them," Kitt repeated, sounding as if he was drowning. "If I don't see you again…tell Kiara and McKenna that I'm proud of them. Be careful, Karr." Kitt broke off with a hiss of pain.

Karr hesitated. "I can't leave."

"Why not?" Kitt demanded hoarsely.

"Bobby told me not to! He told me to protect you!"

"I don't need you to protect me," Kitt said in the firmest voice he could muster. "I need you to go to help them! Go, now, before it's too late. They need you more than I do." His voice drowned out.

Karr frowned. "He'll never forgive me," he sighed as he backed away. "Contact me if anything happens."

"Yes." It was all Kitt could manage.

Then Karr was gone.

**Ethan Lowry paced** his desk. "What do you mean, it broke in?" he demanded.

"I don't know, sir," Jones said helplessly. "It just…crashed through the wall. That wall was reinforced! The car wasn't even damaged!"

A glint entered the other man's eye. "It must be the man with the formula for the molecular bonded shell," he hissed. "Jones! Get your men back into that room! Stall the destruction of the Knight Two Thousand for now. We'll destroy both cars together. I cannot let him get away from me this time. I want you to capture the man and destroy the cars. Got it? Good. Now, get on with it." Lowry grumpily turned back to his papers as Jones meekly hurried out of the room.

The pager bleeped. Lowry picked it up. "What is it, Grant?" He paused a moment. Then his face became contorted with rage, and he bolted to his feet. "What?" he roared.

"That's right, sir," Corby said weakly on the other end of the line. "They got away. Some blue Mustang came and we think it's another computer. In any case, it unlocked the doors. The girl's gone."

"Call out every unit of the security force!" Lowry snarled. "Get that girl back, whatever you do! And get that car, too!" He slammed the phone into the cradle in disgust. "Darn computers," he grumbled to himself. "They ruin my life!"

"**I'm really starting** to think that Ethan Lowry is out to ruin my life," McKenna groaned as she slid into Kiara's warm, comfortable cabin. "Thanks for coming, girl. I was afraid I'd never get out of there! Now, scan for Kitt."

"I've just received a message from Karr," Kiara reported. "Kitt is in the testing garage. They halted the process of whatever they were trying to do to him, and he is safe for the time being."

"Good," McKenna said briskly as she pressed the accelerator. The car sped foreword. "Where's Bobby, then?"

"According to Karr, Bobby is on his way to find you. He just left Kitt and is getting back to Bobby. Kitt told him to find you."

"Does Karr know that I'm safe now?"

"Yes."

"Ask him to tell Bobby that we're going over to help Kitt. Tell them to find Lowry."

McKenna glanced around, feeling a pang as she thought about what had happened the night before. "Kiara…could we check in the gardens out front?"

"Why?"

"Because…" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Because that's where they shot Dad."

"Of course," Kiara said softly. "And McKenna, I'm very sorry that I didn't get here sooner. I should have known…"

"No, no," she sighed. "It's not your fault, not at all. Forget about it." Her fingers tightened on the modified wheel. "Just get around to the front."

By the time Kiara pulled up next to the bushes that had served as Michael's hiding place, it had begun to drizzle. McKenna hopped out, ignoring the light sprinkle of rain, and bounded over to where Kitt had shown her Michael was. She froze.

He was gone.

Her blood felt like ice as she slowly walked into the bushes, and she was trembling from head to toe. Carefully, she knelt down in the mulch and let her eyes search it for any clue…anything to tell her that this had been the spot Kitt had shown her. She ran her fingers through the dirt, and froze when she touched something sticky and wet.

Her heart stopped.

Slowly, her hand shaking, McKenna lifted up her hand to examine it. A flicker of lightning lit up the bushes, and McKenna almost screamed.

Her fingers were red with blood.

"Kiara?" she called shakily after a moment.

"My scans detect that it is Michael's blood, McKenna," Kiara replied gently, sorrow filling her electronic voice. "I don't know how to say how sorry I am."

McKenna wiped her hand on the grass, and then staggered back to the Mustang and fairly collapsed into the seats. "S'okay," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "You…you had nothing to do with it. Don't be sorry."

"I am still sorry."

"I know." McKenna wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. When her hand came away from her face, her eyes were cold with anger and determination. "Kiara, where's Lowry?" she asked.

"In his office on the third floor," Kiara reported, sounding worried. "McKenna, I sincerely hope that you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"I'm thinking just that," McKenna growled as she put her foot to the accelerator. The Mustang's engine snarled as they flew foreword, mud churning from the tires. "Ethan Lowry is going to _pay_ for my dad's death."

* * *

Yay, Michael's alive! Unfortunately...McKenna doesn't know that yet. And when McKenna's mad, well...Lowry had better watch out!

I'm still working on the next chapter, so it might be a week or two before I get it uploaded, so sorry for the cliffie!

~Cheyenne


	16. Alive

**A/N**

*HUGE SIGH* Yes, I _finally_ got this chapter up! I'm sorry it took me forever! The reason: life has been kicking my butt lately with the horse show season approaching, and trying to find a horse to ride. There have been several horses we've looked at, but ugh…you have absolutely no idea how hard it is to find a horse to ride that's not lame (meaning something's wrong with their feet and they can't be ridden), or too high-spirited, or too lazy, or who is actually for lease, or who can jump…yeah, the list goes on and on. So cross your fingers for me! OMG, somebody stop me! I'll go on talking about horses for _decades_ if you don't! LOL

ANYWAY, I almost have TKIO completely finished (cheers!), and actually this chapter would have been up like a week ago if I hadn't decided to change something at the last minute. But I think it worked out better this way.

Also, please review. I treasure each and every one of my reviews! I can't live without them! (I think I need a life…O.O)

And yes, I need to work on writing author's notes that don't contain my entire life story. If you've gotten this far, you've done well. XD

* * *

**Bobby scanned the** area with his eyes. There didn't seem to be anyone in the hallway. Carefully, he and Michael crept down the hall. Bobby hesitated as the nearly invisible earpiece he wore bleeped. "Bobby? Do you read me?"

Bobby reached up to his collar to activate the tiny speaker clipped to it. He'd fashioned the tiny two-way radio not long after they'd met so that he and Karr would always be able to communicate with one another. "Yeah, Karr, what is it?"

Michael paused to glance at him and he caught a glimpse of the earpiece. He nodded.

"Kiara has located McKenna Knight. They are looking for Lowry and have requested your help in finding them."

Bobby muttered something in agreement, and then relayed the information to Michael.

"Do you think you can handle Lowry alone?" Michael asked.

Bobby nodded curtly.

"All right. Listen, I'm gonna look for McKenna and Kitt. If you need my help, tell Karr to tell Kitt."

Bobby nodded, and he and Michael split up. No sounds filled the hall except Bobby's soft footsteps and his quiet breathing. He knew exactly where the man's office was. He also knew that Ethan Lowry liked to sit back and let his goons do the dirty work, so his office was the most likely place to be.

Lowry had been on his tail for too long for Bobby not to know a thing or two about his M.O. Ever since Karr had asked him for the molecular bonded shell and told him how to break into FLAG to get it, Lowry's thugs had been on the lookout for him. He smiled inwardly to himself.

Bobby's life-on-the-streets past had taught him to be skilled in thievery and evading officials, and he was an expert after so many years of being on his own after…

Painful memories nudged at his mind and he shook his head. His past was gone; it didn't matter. What did matter was his task at hand – to find Ethan Lowry.

He tapped the tiny microphone clipped to his shirt collar. "Where is he, Karr?"

Karr knew exactly who he was talking about. "Ethan Lowry is in the third office on the second floor, Bobby," the smooth, icy voice replied through the earpiece. To most people, Karr's voice would be described as a frosty, villainous growl that would chill a glacier, but Bobby had grown used to Karr's coldness. After ten years of working together, they'd formed a pretty solid working relationship and Karr's voice no longer gave Bobby the shivers like it had when they'd first met.

Sometimes, he actually welcomed Karr's cold voice with relief.

"Thanks," Bobby muttered in reply to Karr. "All right, here's the game plan. We've got to divert their attention long enough for McKenna and Michael to get Kitt and get outta here. I don't want anybody to get hurt, do you understand?"

"Affirmative."

"Right." He slipped through the hallways towards Lowry's office.

Sure enough, the man was inside, lighting a cigarette. He had a look of smugness on his face that Bobby didn't really like. He decided to take a chance, and spoke up.

"You look like you think it's all over. Let me tell you, man, it's not nowhere _near_ over yet."

At the sound of Bobby's voice, Lowry got to his feet so fast he nearly toppled his chair over. His face hardened. "Robert Fallon."

Bobby smiled coldly. "In the flesh."

Lowry's eyes narrowed. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here, boy. I've got a price on your head so big, everyone in the state is looking for you."

Bobby didn't twitch a muscle.

"What are you doing here?" Lowry demanded.

He shrugged. "Well, seems when you hurt one Knight Industries AI, all of 'em take it personally."

He saw this comment hit a nerve. Lowry's beady eyes narrowed even further. "I beg your pardon?"

Bobby easily met Lowry's glare with his icy gray stare. "I assume you remember the first AI that Knight Industries ever created, Mr. Lowry. The Knight Automated Roving Robot?"

"You're crazy. That computer was destroyed decades ago." But he'd definitely paled a little.

Bobby smiled. "Ah, perhaps. But ever wonder if someone managed to pick up the pieces? What if somebody thought that it would be worth their time to rebuild a computer no one else wanted, one that everyone else had given up on without a thought?" His smooth voice was terribly even and calm, which was somehow more frightening than any snarl could ever be.

He got the desired effect from Lowry. The man liked to play tough, but he was a coward. The color completely drained from the other man's face, and Bobby smiled before continuing. "And let me tell you one thing, Mr. Lowry. Karr does not forgive very easily. Get me?"

"Go to hell!"

"Only after you."

Lowry raised his voice. "Guards!"

Instantly there were three armed men in the entrance. Instinctively, Bobby leapt up and threw a flying karate kick towards the first one, which knocked him onto his back.

Lowry cowered as Bobby nimbly slid past the other guards and made a run for the door. He tapped his microphone. "They're on me now," he hissed to Karr. "Get ready outside."

"Go after him!" Lowry shrieked behind him.

Outside, Bobby found Karr waiting for him, his engine revving impatiently and his door already open. Bobby slid in, and Karr was in 'Auto drive' and shooting out the driveway before his door was all the way closed. For a moment, he wondered why Karr wasn't protesting to running away. Normally, they would have stood and fought, but they needed to get the guards away from Michael and McKenna.

Then Bobby recognized the angry snarl of the engine and realized that Karr was scared of being caught by FLAG again.

Bobby put his hands on the wheel. "Easy, easy, Karr," he cautioned. "Relax. Don't get all flustered on me now."

"I am incapable of being flustered, Bobby. I simply want to get away from these morons before they turn me into scrap metal."

The Camero's engine roared as it shot down the road, two black sedans barreling after it at full speed.

**As Bobby was** breaking out from the mansion, McKenna was breaking into it. She'd left Kiara hidden outside while she snuck into the main halls with one thought on her mind – find Lowry.

She froze, hearing footsteps thudding softly around the corner. She took a deep breath and curled her hands into fists.

She waited until the footsteps were as near as they were going to get before whoever it was rounded the corner. She sprang out of her hiding place, hand thrown back threateningly.

Whoever it was on the other side ducked. "Whoa, whoa!" a familiar voice cried. "Hey – take it easy there, tigress! It's me!"

McKenna dropped her fist in astonishment. She gaped at him. "D-Dad?" she gasped.

Her father was breathing hard, and he looked exhausted. He was cradling his left arm, and she could see blood staining his sleeve.

Despite this, Michael smiled at her, shaking his head. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to give me a nice black eye as a 'welcome back' present," he teased. "Take it easy on me, I'm getting too old for this stuff."

"You're alive!" she gasped, rushing into his arms.

Michael's face softened. "Yeah, I'm here," he said, wrapping his one good arm around her.

"But…how…?"

"Doesn't matter," he said, pulling away. He held her at arm's length. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she answered absently, wiggling out of his grasp and striding down the hallway. "But Kitt's not."

Michael frowned. "Where is he?" he asked, falling into step beside her.

"From what Karr says, the testing garage."

Michael swore under his breath. "Let's get over there, fast."

**Michael and McKenna** found the testing garage empty, except for one person – one very unfortunate Corby Grant. The man was scrambling through some papers when they got to him. Michael motioned for McKenna to stay back, and then he pulled a revolver out of his pocket. Her eyes grew wide. She hadn't known he had a gun.

Michael walked up to Corby and held the gun inches from his face. "One question," he said pleasantly. "Where's my car?"

Corby gasped and nearly fell to the floor. His face turned ashen. "I don't know," he squeaked.

"Where's Kitt?" Michael growled. "If I find one single circuit out of place…" He shoved the gun a little closer warningly.

Corby's face was ashen. "I-It's in the incinerator building," he gasped. "On the other side of the mansion."

McKenna bit her lip. _Not good…_

"All right," Michael said in a low voice. "If you are lying, you'll be sorry." Quickly he hit the man over the head just hard enough to knock him out.

He spun around and took McKenna's arm. He pulled her out of the room, raising his comlink. "Kitt?" he called. "Kitt, pal, are you there?"

Static.

"Kitt?"

Nothing.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Michael took McKenna's hand and they snuck across the courtyard.

"Dad?" McKenna called uneasily. "Would you really have shot him?"

He gave her a wry grin. "With this?" he asked, tossing her the revolver. "I don't think it'd do a whole lot of damage."

McKenna caught it, and groaned in relief. The gun was made of plastic. "You scared me for a minute there."

"All right, quiet. We've got to lay low here."

The place was in plain sight, and they made their way straight towards it. The incinerator building was a metal structure about the size of a small house. Black smoke rose in puffs out one of the five chimneys on the top.

Steam hissed viciously above as Michael quietly pushed the door open, let McKenna inside, and then he slipped in himself. The place was dirty and full of ash and soot, and stank of gasoline.

The unmistakable sound of Kitt's engine and the squealing of tires led them around the walkway and into a large room. Michael slammed to a halt.

Kitt was in the middle of the room, his engine revving as he scooted backwards, away from two men who were chasing him, looking very confused. One was holding a carjack in his hand. McKenna couldn't help a smile.

Michael boldly crossed the room. "Thanks for holding 'em up for us, Kitt," he said cheerfully. "But I think we can handle this now."

Kitt slammed to a halt. His scanner froze mid-sweep. Only McKenna picked up the single, whispered word spoken in shock and amazement: "Michael?"

One of the men tried to use the carjack as a weapon, but Michael easily twisted it out of his grasp with his good arm. He then gave the man a good whack on the head with the carjack, knocking him unconscious to the floor as McKenna watched in awe. Her father handled things so easily! She just couldn't help a pang of envy. She wished she could do something like that…defeat the bad guy with grace and finesse, and do it so effortlessly.

After Michael was done with the first guard, he turned for the second one. But the other man was already running, having had enough of talking cars and defensively attacking people.

"He'll run for reinforcements and come back," Michael predicted, striding towards Kitt. "We've got to get out of here while we still can." He directed his attention to the Trans Am before him, and his voice softened. "Hey, buddy. Those guys were being pretty rough on you. You okay?"

The red scanner tracked back and forth rather slowly. McKenna knew that the AI was still in a bit of shock at finding his driver alive, but he still couldn't resist a bit of sarcasm.

"Really, Michael," Kitt admonished. "Rough? It was merely child's play keeping them from me."

But no amount of sarcasm could veil the weak tremor in his voice, signaling that he had been badly damaged.

"Yeah, well, you don't sound so good," Michael observed, tapping the front of the car. "Pop the hood, buddy."

Kitt clicked opened the hood. "Michael…I have a question for you." His voice was hesitant.

Michael grinned. "How am I alive?" he guessed.

"I heard the shot," Kitt insisted. "And I saw you lying there! You laid there for four hours, or more. I…I'd thought…" He suddenly stumbled over his words, unable to say what went though his mind.

"The shot missed me," Michael explained gently. "I was only unconscious. So we'll both be fine once we get you put back together again." He motioned McKenna over to his side. "Come on, you two. We've got to get him back together before –"

There were suddenly shouts above them. The attention of all three in the room shot up towards the catwalk above them, and McKenna paled to see Jones and two other men.

"Before _they_ get here," Michael finished with a grimace.

* * *

**A/N**

O.O Oops…

There won't be as long of a wait for the next chappy, I promise! I won't leave you in suspense for long…not too long, anyway. _Muahahahaha! _XD


	17. The Last Stand

_Chapter Sixteen: The Last Stand  
_

"**McKenna, is he** drivable?" Michael asked briskly, walking around to the side of the Trans Am.

"No. Actually, I'm surprised he had access to what functions he did. His alpha circuit is all torn up and his –"

"Fix him, _now_. We can't leave without him, and we don't have much time."

"Michael, you and McKenna have to get out of here!" Kitt protested in alarm. "Leave me. I'm not as important as your own lives!"

"No. I'll keep them back. You finish him, and then we're out of here."

McKenna nodded shakily, and then went back to working under the Trans Am's hood while Kitt was pushing his derisory self-repair programs past the limit.

"Relax, Kitt," McKenna called tensely. "I can't work well when you're fighting so hard, even if it is to help! You're just doing more damage by pushing your self-repair so hard!"

Kitt stopped struggling at once. "I'm sorry."

"Hush. Let me finish."

Jones jumped down the staircase towards them, and Michael boldly stepped between Kitt and Jones. Michael's head had begun throbbing a while ago, and the pain was only intensifying. He'd had concussions before, and he grimly suspected that he had a minor one, probably from hitting his head when he fell after the shot. That was probably why he'd remained unconscious for so long.

His arm was his major restraint. There was no way he could fight well like this. He would just have to be defensive, not offensive.

He glared as Jones brandished a knife. "Find what you were looking for?" He raised his chin.

Jones smirked. "Almost," he sneered. "That thousand dollar payment is almost mine. So keep still. I'm not stopping here!" Jones made a lunge for Michael, his knife glittering in the dim light of the incinerator room.

Michael ducked, and brought his good fist down on Jones's back in one swift motion. Jones grunted in pain, and then whirled, knife flashing. Again, he ducked away from the deadly flash of silver.

"Look out!" McKenna screamed.

Michael felt another man grab him from behind, hanging onto his shoulders and digging his fingers into his forearm. His injured arm screamed in pain.

Michael pummeled the man with his elbows until he retreated, cursing in pain. One down, two to go.

Michael kicked out at the second thug as Jones stood by grinning in evil satisfaction. While they were busy battling, he flipped a switch on the wall. The burning wave of heat that hit Michael's skin then could say only one thing.

The incinerator had been activated again.

For a moment he looked down into the dark depths of the furnace. Sparks and tiny licks of fire quickly turned into a blazing inferno of snarling fireballs. He stepped back as a scalding wave of heat hit his face.

Then the gangster was on him again. Michael twisted and writhed, but the thug held him fast.

Suddenly a knife was dug into his bad arm. It felt as if all the fire in the blazing incinerator below them was carried in that one single stab. He cried out in pain; his already weakened body simply crumpled under the weight of the other man, one last desperate attempt to get away from the sharp pain of the knife cutting his skin. He felt blood welling in his arm where the knife had sliced into his flesh.

McKenna had watched, frozen in horror, as Jones had calmly stepped towards Michael, who was being kept still by the thug, and let his knife come down heavily on Michael's arm. She'd seen her father's body collapse onto the floor, and her heart jumped into her throat.

In an instant she was on top of Jones, wrapping her arms around his throat, throttling him. He gave a strangled cry of alarm and horror. "Get away from him!" she screeched with all the fury of an angry bear.

Michael looked up dazedly to see McKenna scratching at Jones's eyes and face. Howling in pain and fury, he reached back to snatch at her, but his step unbalanced him. He stumbled closer to the edge of the incinerator. Horrified, McKenna leapt off of him.

Michael broke free from the thug holding him down and gave Jones a bone-crunching smack in the jaw. Jones gasped, lost his balance, and fell into the furnace. Instinctively, McKenna made a lunge to grab him, but she missed. Screaming, the man fell into the flames.

A loud roar was heard from below as a fireball bellowed upwards. A shiver ran up McKenna's spine as she watched the dark orange flames swirl around the man's body. Then all was silent.

The last gangster was running, and they were now alone in the room. Panting hard, McKenna and Michael looked at one another. He was holding his injured arm, and sweat rolled down both of their foreheads.

"Hey," Michael chuckled, beaming widely. "We may make a warrior princess out of you yet, Kenna. Way to go. And thanks."

She tried to grin. "What else could I've done?" she laughed, rushing foreword to hug him. For a moment he held her in his arms, and she closed her eyes. But when she reopened them, she jumped back in horror. She was staring into the cold eyes of Ethan Lowry. "Dad!" But it was too late.

Ethan Lowry appeared out of nowhere and gave Michael a bone-jarring blow in the side, pushing him towards the furnace. Michael staggered with a cry of surprise, and stumbled near to the edge. His foot slipped.

"Michael! _No!_" Kitt screamed as Michael lost his balance and stumbled into the incinerator. He vanished from her sight.

Ice rushed through McKenna's veins. "NO!"

McKenna didn't see Lowry reaching down to pick up the blood-stained knife on the floor. "Dad!" she screamed. But her way was blocked by Lowry's bulky form against the red-orange blaze of the fire.

Lowry reached back and she heard him press something on the wall behind them. A lid began to slide over the furnace.

That was when she saw. Hands were grasping the edge of the furnace. Michael was still alive! She screamed as the cover to the incinerator creaked closer to him. Four more yards and it would crush his fingers. He would have to let go. With one arm already injured, he didn't have much time.

"Kitt!" Michael shouted from the furnace. His voice was tense with pain. "Get over here!"

"I can't, I'm still immobile!" Kitt shouted back tensely. "Just hold on!"

Nobody noticed the furious roar of an engine getting closer and closer to the incinerator room until a loud boom directed everyone's attention to the other side of the room. Lowry jumped, and spun around.

The East wall was now in a cloud of dust and crumbling bricks. A midnight black Camero was flying out of the cloud.

McKenna couldn't believe what she was seeing. Karr roared into view, screeching to a stop. Bobby was nowhere in sight.

"Stop where you are," Karr ordered Lowry in a sinister voice.

Lowry froze wisely. He knew that Karr would not think twice about running him into the ground.

Instantly the creaking lid grinded to a halt. Karr must have jammed the gears! McKenna suppressed a sigh of relief. One less thing to worry about.

"Now, Karr," Lowry said silkily, turning all his attention to the Camero. "I know that you've had some misgivings about FLAG in the past, but –"

A tiny green light suddenly strengthened on Karr's bumper. Glancing at Lowry, McKenna saw the reflection of the green light pinpointed on his chest. McKenna realized that the light was a laser target.

"Stay where you are, or I swear I will kill you," Karr growled. "McKenna. Help your father."

Sending up a brief prayer of thanks, McKenna scrambled over to the furnace. "Dad!" she shouted.

Michael was barely hanging on. Flames licked at the sides of the furnace, and his face was dark with ash. He was gripping the edge of the furnace with both hands, but he was barely hanging on. "McKenna!" he gasped faintly. "Get out of here." He sounded exhausted.

There was a furious shriek behind her, but she barely registered it.

She reached down her hand to him. "Grab on," she ordered.

Michael took hold of her hand, and she pulled with all her strength. For a few heartbeats she was afraid she wasn't strong enough. Then Michael was almost up…almost there…

Suddenly a hand grabbed McKenna's shoulder. She screamed as it tore her away from the blazing incinerator. She struggled to hang onto her father, but they lost contact.

_Dad!_

McKenna suddenly found herself thrust on the floor. She groaned, and her arm slid away from her body to dangle in thin air. Her heart dropped, and she shot backwards, gasping. She'd been inches away from the edge of the incinerator, and for a moment she was mesmerized, staring into the fiery depths below her…

There was a shout behind her.

She whirled to an upright position to see her father desperately scrambling onto solid ground as Lowry walked steadily towards him. She didn't know how Lowry had escaped Karr, but at the moment it didn't matter.

"No!" she screeched, leaping in fury at the man.

McKenna flung herself onto Lowry, shouting in rage. "Leave my father alone!" she howled. She caught a brief glimpse of her father collapsing onto the floor, exhausted, but safe.

Lowry gave a startled cry of rage, and then he twisted around to try and stab at McKenna with his knife. She neatly jumped away and stood angrily in front of him. "Karr!" she shouted. "Help him!"

Karr's engine roared as the Camero shot past them, and McKenna was relieved to see that he went straight towards Michael.

Suddenly, the sound of gunshots rained down from somewhere above them. McKenna ducked instinctively, her hands over her head, as gunfire ricocheted around her.

When there was a pause in the fire, McKenna risked a glance up – and her heart fell. Lowry had reinforcements. About fifteen armed men were shooting at them from the catwalk.

Lowry snickered and advanced towards her, the knife glittering dangerously in his hand.

Calming herself, McKenna took a quick glance around. She saw the large, thick stick on the floor nearby. In an instant she'd formed a plan in her mind, and she slowly looked up towards the man looming before her.

He smirked. "Pleasant dreams, Ms. Knight." Then he lunged his knife towards her throat.

Quick as lightning, McKenna flew to the side, and scooted underneath him. He stammered in fury as she swooped to snatch the long stick.

In one swift motion, she let the stick fly and felt its' bulk connect with the side of Lowry's head. As he howled in pain, she turned to run. But a hand yanking her hair made her fly backwards again to land on her backside. "Ow!"

She winced before opening her eyes in horror. Lowry loomed above her, his knife ready to come down on her throat. She cringed, waiting for the death blow she knew would come.

Suddenly the weight lifted. Startled, she opened her eyes to see Bobby, standing over her with her stick in his hand. Lowry was on the floor a few feet away. He grinned and tossed the stick to her. "Am I late?" he teased.

"Only by a millennium," she retorted as she caught the stick and scrambled upright. "What took you so long?"

"I had to deal with some guys who were on my tail. Kiara's with me. Don't worry, we've got things under control."

McKenna glanced around as another round of gunfire boomed in the building. "You call _this_ under control?"

Bobby shrugged. "Close enough."

Suddenly, McKenna's comlink came to life. "McKenna, Ethan Lowry is making an exit at the back of the building," Kiara reported.

"Gotcha," McKenna said. She looked at Bobby. "Try to hold down the fort here. I'm going after him."

"Are you sure?" Bobby sounded concerned.

McKenna's eyes hardened. "Yes."

As Bobby rushed off, McKenna searched the room for Kiara. Her eyes found her near Kitt. "Kiara!" she shouted, breaking into a run. "Open the door!"

The Mustang's door whirred open, and McKenna slid in. Before she closed the door, she called, "Kitt, contact Kiara if we're needed back here, okay?"

"Yes, McKenna," Kitt answered, sounding stronger than before. To McKenna's surprise, he revved his engine and tore off to help Michael.

McKenna stared after him. "Did I miss something…?"

Kiara chuckled. "Bobby turns out to be quite a good – and very fast – mechanic. He and I snuck over to repair Kitt while Karr distracted Lowry."

"Not to mention, saved our hides. Now, pick up Lowry on your scanner. We've got to follow him."

"Right away."

McKenna slammed the accelerator, and she and Kiara tore out of the building, driving out the hole Karr had made in his grand entrance.

A radar visual popped up on Kiara's monitor. "He's driving a black SUV, heading West, towards the old sea cliffs. He is currently reaching eighty miles per hour, McKenna. If he continues at that speed, he won't be able to make it through the turn near the cliffs."

McKenna gritted her teeth. "Give me your absolute fastest, Kiara."

"Would you like to try out my super pursuit mode?" Kiara offered. "It's modified so that it's not as appearance-altering as the original super pursuit mode, but it still gives us the forty percent increase of speed. The aerodynamics of the car changes –"

"Kiara, could you grade me later?" McKenna snapped. "Do whatever you have to do, just get us after him!"

"All right, if you say so," Kiara said cheerfully. "Just hold on tightly."

McKenna tightened her grip on the wheel as she heard parts and machinery begin to whir underneath her. To her astonishment, twin fins slid out from Kiara's undercarriage, looking to McKenna like little black wings. The Mustang sank lower on its' shocks and she heard the blast of a turbine jet engine firing from the back of the car.

Gravity flung McKenna back in her seat as the Mustang roared foreword like it had been shot from a cannon. McKenna gasped and gripped the wheel so tightly that her knuckles went white.

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Please leave a review! : )


	18. A Knight's Victory

Holy macaroni! I can't believe TKIO is almost over :( It's just this chapter and then one more, and then it's over. Sigh. Well anyway, here's an update for yall, and again, I apologize on getting it published so late. My inspiration ran away for a while, but I think it's back now! Yay! I just finished this thing last night, so I'm really sorry if there are any confusing parts or grammar errors. I just kinda wanted to get this off my chest. In other words, I really don't like this chapter. At all. But it's better than nothing, so here ya go.

Enjoy, and don't forget to please review!

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_A Knight's Victory  
_

**Michael groaned as** he collapsed onto the floor. He felt as though every muscle in his body was on fire, and his arm was almost numb. Hanging onto the edge of that furnace for dear life had drained him of all of his strength. His clothes, face and hair were covered with soot and ash.

Vaguely, his mind registered the smooth hum of an engine approaching him. The voice that suddenly accompanied the humming shocked him into awareness again.

"Mr. Knight. Glad to see that you managed to keep the injures to minor this time," Karr said in gruff greeting. God, since when had Karr gotten a sense of humor?

Michael struggled upright to see the black Camero sitting a few feet away from him, the amber scanner pacing back and forth slowly on its' nose. He forced himself to sit up. "Karr?" he muttered groggily. The AI's sinister voice still sent chills down his spine the way it had when they'd first met. When they'd first met…

Suddenly it struck him. Karr wasn't making any aggressive moves, or trying to attack him the way he would have expected The KARR to.

He tried instinctively to sit up. A burning, dizzying headache hit him, and he groaned and had to lay back down.

"I have been instructed to protect you from any further harm by your daughter," Karr told him tonelessly.

"Where _is_ McKenna?"

"She has taken Kiara to chase down Ethan Lowry and should be back shortly."

Michael swore under his breath and struggled to his feet. Karr didn't stop him; he just gave an irritated swish of his scanner.

Suddenly the familiar purr of Kitt's engine came to Michael's ears, and Kitt skidded to a screeching halt between Michael and Karr. Kitt may believe that Karr had changed for the better, but he still didn't fully trust him yet. Not enough to protect his driver.

"Are you very badly injured, Michael?" he asked his driver.

Michael winced as he managed to stand up and limp over to Kitt. "Nah, just a little sore," he said weakly. "I'm not back in the swing of things yet. How about you?" He pulled open the door.

"Fine, thanks to Bobby and McKenna. Michael, I suggest we call police reinforcements. We're very badly outnumbered."

Michael frowned. "Okay. Call up the cops. And while you at it, you might wanna contact Bonnie."

"She won't be happy," Kitt observed.

"You think?" Michael grumbled. "Come on, old buddy, let's help Bobby out a little."

**McKenna gritted her** teeth as she maneuvered Kiara around a tight turn. "Did he really have to pick a route that's so…twisty?" she grumbled.

"I think he intends to lose us," Kiara said. "I do hope he realizes that he can't. I have him on my scanners."

McKenna smiled wickedly. "Well, that's just the good side to having a smart-aleck car."

"Hey!" Kiara sounded offended.

"That was a direct quote from Dad about Kitt, not you." She paused for effect. "Though it could apply to you as well," she finished mischievously.

Kiara refused to respond to that one. It was just as well, anyway – McKenna couldn't focus on the driving when she was talking. She grunted with effort as she spun the car around a turn. "Whoa!"

"McKenna, I've looked up your drivers' license, and I'd like to remind you that you've only been driving for two years," Kiara commented, sounding worried.

"That's not up for discussion right now."

"Perhaps you should let me drive."

"You kidding me? No way. This is a blast." She laughed nervously. "You know, adventure, pursuit, danger around every–"

"Turn!" Kiara exclaimed suddenly.

"I know, right?"

"No! I mean, _turn_! Now!" Kiara yelped, setting the auto-cruise on and slamming on the brakes. McKenna whipped her gaze back to the road and gave a cry of terror. They were approaching a steep drop-off.

McKenna screamed as the Mustang barely managed to skid to a screeching stop as they veered dangerously close to the edge of the cliff face that McKenna hadn't even known was there. The car finally stopped with a jerk. McKenna gasped and grabbed the wheel. She stared disbelievingly down at the drop-off they had almost plummeted over. The cliff had to be at least 200 feet deep. "Why the heck didn't they have a guardrail up or something?" she breathed, still trying to slow her racing heart.

Kiara didn't answer her. Instead, she picked up a moving object on her scanners. "McKenna, I've located Mr. Lowry. He's on foot now, heading Northeast."

McKenna nodded and shifted quickly into reverse. "Let's go after him, then. Any suggestions on how we might go about finding him?"

"I might have one." Excitement dripped into the AI's tone. "Bonnie's new program, my new cloak mode. Part of it is simply an upgrade on the silent mode, but it deadens 90% more sound than silent mode did. It also increases my scanner capability by 30%."

She nodded. "Sounds useful."

"And now for the astounding feature of cloak mode. It uses a new form of nano technology that allows me to blend into my surroundings. My shell can now change pattern and color to almost completely blend into the surrounding area. It also turns off any homing beacon or signal that an electronic device may be able to detect. In short, we can become invisible to the naked eye."

McKenna's jaw dropped. "Wow," was all she could come up with to say.

"Yes, thank you," Kiara said politely. "Now, shall we?"

A beam split McKenna's face. "Let's make our presence unknown."

A whirr emanated from deep within the car, and the windows shimmered for a moment. Then all was quiet.

"That's it?" McKenna asked, slightly surprised. "Everything looks the same."

Kiara's voice had a proud smile in it. "From the interior, yes. But any passersby would have no idea that we were sitting here."

McKenna's eyes sparkled. "Now _that_ is what I call awesome. Let's go."

The road wound alongside the cliff. Or, more accurately, the road turned into a path the wound alongside the cliff. Pavement gave way to dirt, and then dirt gave way to a barely-marked clear path in the trees. They drove silently until Kiara informed McKenna that Ethan Lowry was in the woods directly to their left. McKenna brought the Mustang to a slow halt. "Okay," she murmured. "This is where it gets interesting. Stay here unless I call you."

"Got it," Kiara confirmed.

McKenna quietly opened the door and stepped onto the soft dirt path. She could see Lowry in the trees about a hundred yards away from her. She quickly slipped behind one of the trees and watched him for a moment. He wasn't doing anything. He was just standing there, staring off into the distance. That was somehow more disturbing and eerie than anything else McKenna could think of at the moment.

Okay…time for her plan. Wait, did she have a plan? She didn't have a plan! McKenna panicked. What had given her the stupid idea of chasing down a criminal when she didn't even have a plan, let alone a pair of handcuffs? Well, she couldn't let him get away…not after what he'd done to Kitt. Her fists tightened as she remembered his cries of pain yesterday. Yes. This man would get what was coming to him.

She began to creep closer to him. After a few seconds, though, she froze. She couldn't see Lowry anywhere. She looked around uneasily. Something was wrong…

Suddenly a dark shadow jumped in her way. She yelped and leapt backwards. She found herself facing Ethan Lowry, towering in front of her.

He gave a deep laugh. "You're a fool to think you can defeat me so easily," he sneered. "One would think that the daughter of the infamous Michael Knight would have more brains than that." He began walking towards her, and she caught the glimmer of his knife in his hand.

McKenna froze. She'd known it all along. She _wasn't_ good enough. How had she ever thought that she could possibly measure up to her father? He was the greatest man alive…

_No!_ a voice inside her screamed. _He wants you to lose confidence! He wants you to waver! Don't let him get to you. Stay strong!_

Lowry caught her moment of distraction and leapt foreword, roaring out a battle cry. McKenna didn't have time to flinch. She merely acted on instinct.

She leapt foreword and jutted her knee towards the man, feeling it connect somewhere painful. As Lowry moaned in pain, she whirled around and shoved at his shoulder, sending the man flying.

The force of the push took away her balance, and she ended up face-down in the dirt. She took a moment to find her bearings. She was alive. She didn't feel pain anywhere. Relief coursed through her.

But her relief quickly changed to horror when she saw Lowry teetering at the edge of the cliff face, his eyes wide with terror.

With a shout, he fell over the edge, down into the depths of oblivion. There was a few loud _crack_s from below, and McKenna squeezed her eyes shut until she heard the final thud. Then she leaned over the edge to see what had happened.

She swallowed hard when she saw Lowry's crumpled form lying sprawled on a huge boulder about halfway down the cliff face. The man groaned and tried to struggle upright, only to fall on his side with a cry of pain, clutching his left shoulder.

A flash caught McKenna's eye, and she looked up to see the knife that Lowry had tried to kill her with wobbling at the edge of the cliff. It was too far away for her to have any hope of grabbing, and it fell quickly over the edge towards the man still moaning on the boulder below. McKenna saw his eyes widen as they took in the knife flying towards him, and then she forced herself to look away the moment before the knife hit the man.

The slash of the knife and the cry of pain that was cut short told her all she needed to know.

It was over.

McKenna's heart hammered. Ethan Lowry was dead. She wanted to be relieved and glad, but she was somehow…somehow disturbed. She wouldn't wish death on anybody, especially a death like that, falling under his own blade. For a moment, she was glad that the fight had only lasted a minute or less - she didn't know if she would have been able to hold her own for much longer...

Wait! Her father! Horrified that she'd forgotten, McKenna turned to run towards where she'd left Kiara. "Back to FLAG, Kia," she gasped.

Kiara didn't ask any questions. She just shifted the car to the 'normal cruise' and let McKenna drive back to the Foundation.

When McKenna burst through the doors of the incinerator room, where she'd left her friends, there were two black cars at the edge of the incinerator: a Trans Am and a Camero. Bobby and Michael were standing beside them. Relieved, she began to rush towards them.

"Dad!" McKenna shouted. She rushed up to him and flew into his arms. He hugged her tightly. "You're alive!"

"I'm all right," Michael laughed. He held her away from him for a moment. "Did you find Lowry? Are you okay?"

McKenna nodded slowly. "He's dead," she said softly. "But I didn't kill him, dad. He fell down the face of the cliff, and his knife…" She broke off.

"It's okay," he assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He was a madman. It's for the best that he's gone now."

"I'll say," Kitt grumbled. "He nearly killed you, Michael! I'm just glad you're all right." His scanner swished. "All of you."

Michael leaned back against the car's fender, wincing as he cradled his injured arm. "Same here, partner, let me tell ya." He sighed.

Police sirens wailed outside, and the three exchanged glances. "That'd be Mom," McKenna predicted with a grin.

"Everybody take cover," Michael muttered, affection thick in his voice.

**An hour of** interviews and reports later, the police finally let them go back home. After taking a look at Michael's arm, one of the policemen had advised that he go to the hospital to get it checked out. True to his old form, Michael had insisted that he didn't need it, but Kitt had insisted that they go anyway. McKenna and Bobby were getting a police escort back home while Kitt drove Michael to a nearby hospital, also with a police escort. The police had been wary of letting Michael drive, but he promised them that he was fine.

The drive was mostly quiet. Michael was still trying to hold back the pain of his injury, and Kitt was apparently still turning the events of the day over in his processor. It had been a lot for his old partner to cope with, Michael suddenly realized. He had been tortured by electrocution, thought that his driver was dead, protected Michael's daughter with incredible fierceness and devotion, and had nearly lost everything he cared about in the process.

"You okay, Kitt?" he asked, concern coloring his voice. "You've been awfully quiet, and today was a lot to take in, I know."

"I was simply wondering how you manage to do it," Kitt answered neutrally.

Michael smiled. "Do what?"

"Run blatantly into danger, nearly get yourself killed, miraculously come back after remaining unconscious for over five hours, and beat the bad guy on top of it, all in two days." Kitt didn't voice what he was thinking. _Not to mention worrying me sick and nearly killing me with guilt._

Michael rolled his eyes. "Simple," he said dryly. "Just take one insane sixteen-year-old girl with one warped sense of adventure, add three AI supercars, two brave men dashing in to save the damsel in distress, one evil criminal mastermind, and there you have it."

"You make it sound like a fairy tale," Kitt remarked irritably. "There was nothing fairylike about it. That dreadful man nearly overloaded my systems with electricity, which was not a pleasant experience."

"Don't remind me. I just want to forget that whole part of the mission."

"I wouldn't mind forgetting it either. Oh, and by the way, Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"McKenna is no more mentally instable than you are, Michael."

"Thanks a lot!"

The drive continued in silence for a few more minutes. Then, as they were stopping at a red light, Kitt said something that Michael hadn't quite been expecting.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Michael."

Michael blinked. "What _for_?"

"For doubting you. I failed you by questioning your loyalty and our friendship. I finished the scan on the radio after they captured you, and it…it's a voice changer. They used it to get to me. I'm sorry, Michael. I let you down. I…"

"Kitt," Michael interrupted him. "I never _once_ though that you'd let me down. You did your best."

"But–"

"But nothing. We're a team. Friends. And that's all there is to it. Understood?"

"Yes, Michael. Thank you."

He smiled. "Of course, pal." He shut his eyes and leaned back. A contented sigh slipped from his lips. Ever since he'd thought he had lost Kitt, he'd compared every single car he drove to the beautiful, luxurious Trans Am. Nothing had ever come even close to measuring up. Now, as he felt the rift that had come between them mending and sealing their bond even tighter than ever, he knew in his heart that everything was as it should be. "You know, it's really me who should be apologizing. After all, I _did_ leave you alone without investigating anything. If I had searched into it a little, I might have found you." He sighed. "But I was selfish, and I didn't want to go into something like that when everything was so fresh. I didn't mean it, pal. But it happened all the same, and I know that." He looked straight into the voice modulator. "Forgive me?"

If Kitt could have smiled fondly, he would have. "Of course I do," he responded warmly. "After all, we're Butch and Sundance, right?"

Michael laughed out loud. "You got that right. And it's nice to have you back, Sundance. It's very nice to have you back."

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_A/N_

I just wanted to let everybody know that I HATE the action in this chapter, and I know that it's completely lacking. I'm awful at the intense scenes. GRR. BUT, yay, the team's back together again, the bad guy is defeated, and…only one more chapter to go. Also, what'd yall think of cloak mode? :)


	19. Just the Beginning

I'm baaaack :) Firstly, I apologize for my prolonged absence on here. My little brother recently had some major health issues, and things got pretty scary for a while and this story kind of took a back seat. (But don't worry, he's okay now.)

Well, here it is. The last chapter. *depressing silence* I want to give a **huge** thank you and a basket of warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies for everyone who reviewed/favorited! I can't even begin to tell you how much each and every review means to me :)

Anyway, I'm currently working on two other stories under this AU (one's a prologue-type thing centering on Bobby and Karr and how they tie into all this), but I'm also going to completely rewrite this because of the absolute crap that is most of the first half of this story. I can't make any promises on how soon any of this will be up, considering the combined factors that my brother's health issues still aren't completely settled yet and I am a terrible procrastinator XD

Anyway, enjoy the last chapter of TKIO. Peace out! :)

-Charm

_Chapter Seventeen: "Just the Beginning"_

**Bonnie put a** stack of papers down on the desk. "Well, that settles it," she sighed. "Bobby was right, Lowry _was_ involved in a startlingly high number of crimes before this."

Michael shot her a puzzled glance. "Bobby told you that?"

She nodded distractedly. "You didn't know?"

He shrugged. "Well, this is the first I've heard of it, but I'm not surprised," he said dryly, coming to stand at her side at the desk. They were at the office at FLAG, helping sort through some old files. "And yet FLAG still hired him?"

"They didn't know, obviously. I don't know how Bobby found out…actually, I don't really want to know. Lowry went to some great lengths to hide that information."

"He'd be a fool if he hadn't."

McKenna popped into the room, half of a donut in one hand. "That guy really needed a hobby," she declared. "Bobby and I were just going through his crummy little office, and you should've seen all the info he had on you and Kitt! He was absolutely _obsessed_ with revenge." She hopped up into a high stool in the corner and pulled her feet up to rest on one of the bars between the legs of the stool.

"Couldn't agree with you more, Kenna. Hey, where are you stashing the snacks?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you. They'd all be gone in five minutes flat." She popped the rest of the donut into her mouth, grinning evilly.

Bonnie shuddered. "Gives me the chills to think that all those years, someone was stalking us, watching our every move, waiting to strike."

"I kind of wonder why he didn't attack sooner," Michael muttered. "It really just doesn't make any sense."

McKenna shrugged. "The guy's brain was totally screwed, in my opinion," she said around a mouthful of donut. "Who knows his motive for anything?"

Bonnie sighed as she gathered her stack of papers. "Don't talk with your mouth full, McKenna. And whatever the reason, I'm glad he waited. We might not be having this conversation if he hadn't." She gave Michael a quick peck on the cheek and left the room to move the files into another office room.

When she was gone, Michael moved to the desk and began shuffling through the papers with a sour look on his face. "A little piece of advice for you, McKenna – _never_ get an office job."

She shuddered. "Don't worry, I _won't_. Of all the things I might do, scribbling stuff behind a desk in some scratchy old dress with glasses dangling on my nose is not one of them. No, I'm going to be out there, helping people." She paused for a long moment. "Thing is, I'm not quite sure _how_ I want to help them. I could be out there with Kiara, helping to rid the world of all evil one case at a time. It sounds like something out of a Disney movie, but…it's so real! It's right at my fingertips! If I –"

"We've been through this, McKenna," Michael interrupted her sternly. "Summer break is over in a month, and then you'll have school and homework to take care of."

McKenna's shoulders slumped. "I know."

"You have your horse, and the barn chores you have to do to work off his boarding fee."

"I know."

"_And_ you have Leya to train at the dog center."

"I _know!_"

Michael turned and bent forward to look into her eyes. "Listen to me, McKenna. Even if I would let you do it, you have your own life that you need to take care of. You're a bright, young, beautiful girl, McKenna. You're passionate about everything you do, and you're talented at so many things. I don't want to see all that talent go to waste."

She looked into his eyes. "I understand," she said softly. "I know that you want to keep me safe. But I'll be eighteen in a year and a half."

He closed his eyes, and then got down on his knees in front of her. His voice almost broke on his next words. "McKenna, listen to me…I've lost too many loved ones in my life. My parents and all my childhood friends, first of all, when Michael Long was shot in Las Vegas and I took on the Knight surname. My first wife was shot and killed in my arms on my wedding day. Devon, who I loved like a father, died just before Kitt was taken from me. For a while, I felt like everything I cared about, everyone I held close to my heart was leaving me. Then, just a few months after I was led to believe that Kitt was gone forever, you were born." He brushed a strand of hair out of McKenna's face. "The first time I held you, I swore that you wouldn't be taken away from me like everything else. I swore to keep you and your mother safe, no matter what."

McKenna stared into his crystal blue gaze. For a moment she glimpsed some of the pain and loss that resided behind those normally cheerful blue eyes. It was a part of her father that she hadn't previously known existed. "I…I'm sorry, Dad."

He reached foreword to hug her. "Don't be, sweetie. I just want you to know how important it is to me that you stay safe."

She hugged him tight. "Thanks for coming to save me," she murmured.

He chuckled softly. "I should be thanking you for saving my hide." Pulling away, he gave her a gentle spank. "Go on, now. Find your mother and see if you can help her with anything."

"Okay."

"All right."

McKenna slid down from the stool, a little dazed. She'd never heard about Stevie being shot on their wedding day. She hadn't even known that he'd been married before. She would have normally demanded more information, but she sensed that now wasn't the time to ask about it. She'd just have to dig some more info about that later.

The sincerity of her father's vow touched her, but another, deeper part of her knew that it was wrong. She was growing up; she ought to be allowed to take care of herself. _I guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes around._

McKenna stood and walked to the window that overlooked the front yard. There, she saw three cars – a Camero, a Trans Am, and a Mustang. A smile tugged at her lips. Yes, she would have to wait. But only for now.

After all, it was just the beginning.

"_George Eliot once said, 'It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be good and beautiful, and we must hunger after them.' To me, he was trying to say that it's really impossible give up on our dreams while we still breathe. Chasing fantasies is part of what makes life real. If we are to give up and lose our dreams, we lose a part of our own souls. I won't let that happen to me. I'll keep chasing my dreams until I catch them._

"_I know that I am not alone in my beliefs. A man named Wilton Knight once told my father that one man can make a difference. That is my father's dream. He made his dream come true. He and Kitt have changed the lives of hundreds of people. As for me, well…if I've learned one thing during this whole, crazy adventure, it's that you can never give up hoping. If you do, you give __ up on __yourself. I won't give up on myself, no matter what road blocks – both literal and metaphorical – stand in my way._

"_It's not over yet."_

THE END – or, should we say, The Beginning ;D


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